Against the World (Spencer Reid)
by SingingGeekyBookWorm
Summary: *starts S1x02* Emi Hinata, childhood friend and girlfriend of Spencer Reid. They've been dating for 4 years so they're relationship must be stable, right? Well, it's put to test when Emi also joins the BAU. Now it's them against the world.
1. 1-02 - Compulsion

**A/N: Emi is portrayed by Suzuko Mimori.**

* * *

 _"Spencer, relax. They're gonna love you."_

 _22-year-old Spencer Reid nervously fumbled with his tie as his mind started thinking of possibilities of things that could happen. Today was his first day in the BAU, and if it wasn't obvious enough, he was extremely nervous._

 _"You can't be so sure of that," Spencer argued, still struggling with his tie._

 _Emiko "Emi" Hinata, Spencer's 21-year-old girlfriend for 2 years, walked over to the nervous man and swatted his hands away from his tie._

 _"Well, I read on a website that most people judge others based on two things: if they can trust you, and if they can respect you," Emi said, straightening the now tied tie._

 _"I don't think I look like someone that another would respect straight away," Spencer admitted._

 _"Spencer, you have an IQ of 187. You are a genius_ and _the youngest to join the BAU," Emi told him, "If they don't respect you, knowing that, then amaze them with that brilliant mind of yours."_

 _Spencer looked at her lovingly, "You really think I'll do okay?"_

 _"I_ know _you'll do_ wonderfully _," Emi corrected, "Now, we better get going. You have your first day at the BAU, and_ I _have to get to class in Quantico. I just need to finish this year and I'll be able to attempt to join the BAU with you."_

* * *

 **2 years later...**

It's been two years since Spencer first started, and like Emi had predicted, he was doing very well. Emi had also graduated from Quantico, but instead of trying to join the BAU like she had wanted to, she decided to become a substitute teacher. It wasn't that she didn't want to join the BAU, but Emi had decided that she wanted to earn some more doctorates before trying to join. While most people took about 8.2 years to get a single PhD, with the help of Spencer, Emi managed to get 2 PhDs: Psychology and Sociology in the span of 4 years. She was currently finishing up and close to getting her PhD in Criminology.

"I just need to pass this final today, and I'll finally have caught up with you!" Emi said proudly one day at breakfast. "I'll have PhDs in Psychology, Sociology, and Criminology, and Bachelor degrees in Chemistry and Forensic Science."

"Maybe I should get another PhD then," Spencer mused.

"Don't you dare!" Emi said, knowing that he was only teasing. "I don't think my 164 IQ brain and non-eidetic memory can keep up if you get another one."

Spencer chuckled and watched as Emi turned back to her notes to study. No matter how many times he thinks about it, he still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that he and Emi have been dating for 4 years. She was his first-and hopefully, only-girlfriend, and he couldn't be happier. Unlike most girls who probably would have wanted a lot of public display of affection, Emi was completely comfortable with just being near him and the occasional peck on the cheek. She also understood when Spencer told her that he hadn't told his team about her because he didn't want them to tease him.

"You remember Melissa, right?" Emi suddenly asked, bringing Spencer out of his thoughts.

"The chemistry professor at Bradshaw College in Arizona?"

"Yeah, that one," Emi confirmed, "So, she's pregnant and needs to leave on a maternity leave. She asked me to fill in her spot."

"Go all the way to Arizona for 3 months?" Spencer said, puzzled, "Couldn't the school find a substitute that lives in Arizona?"

"She said she doesn't feel comfortable with leaving her students with a stranger," Emi explained. "The college said they'll pay me $150 daily, _and_ they'll pay for the plane ticket and house rent. That's more than I've ever made as a sub here in Virginia."

"You've already decided to accept," Spencer realized.

"If you don't want me to go, then I won't," Emi reassured him.

"No, I think you should take it," Spencer said, "I mean, you might as well put your chemistry bachelor to good use. When do you need to leave?"

"Next week. Thanks for understanding," Emi said, smiling. Her eyes wandered to the clock on the wall, and her smile dropped. "Shit! It's already 11! I gotta go. I _can't_ be late to this final!"

* * *

 **3 months later...**

"This is from the Phoenix office, Bradshaw College in Tempe," Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner, the leader of the BAU, said, causing Spencer to immediately think of Emi. "6 fires in 7 months."

"Who recorded it?"

"A student with a digital camcorder," Jennifer "JJ" Jareau, the team's media liaison, explained, "He was watching a fire in the building across from their dorm. The other person you'll see is his roommate, 20-year-old Matthew Rowland."

She played the video, and the team watched as the video showed a building on fire before it lead to the death of Matthew Rowland. He had been moving to door, thinking that someone was trying to get in, when he stepped in a liquid that seemed to be gasoline. It was at that moment that the boy was suddenly on fire. His roommate rushed to put the fire out, but it was already too late.

* * *

 **Bradshaw College**

 **Tempe, Arizona**

The team had flown to Arizona and were now at the college, on the way to talk to Ellen Turner, the dean of students.

"No badges," Jason Gideon ordered, "I don't want to satisfy the unsub's need for attention by letting him know he go the FBI here. Try not to look official."

"Try to look _less_ official." Gideon corrected himself after seeing his team dressed in suits and dark official-looking sunglasses.

They walked through the campus, and the dean of students quickly joined them.

"Obviously, I'd rather be meeting you under different circumstances," Ellen Turner said as she led them through the campus. "This is fire inspector Zhang," she introduced as the man joined.

"This morning the chemistry department reported several bottles of highly flammable chemicals missing," Zhang informed them as they headed towards the school.

"I'm prepared to evacuate this campus," Ellen said as Gideon and Hotch opened the doors for her. "Thank you."

"That brings with it its own problems," Hotch said.

"You might evacuate the arsonist as well," Gideon added.

"Then the case goes unsolved, the campus is reopened, but the fires start up again," Elle Greenaway said.

"Hotch, Gideon, hold on a second," Derek Morgan called, causing the group to stop. "You said the chemicals were missing today. It says here that one of previous fires was set with disel fuel that appeared from the grounds keeping facility." The man then turned to the fire inspector, "How long after it disappeared was the fire set?

"One day."

Hotch and Gideon exchanged before walking off.

"If he's holding to a pattern..." Gideon started.

"Who's to say the next fire won't be today?" Hotch finished, nodding.

* * *

After Hotch and Spencer checked out Matthew Rowland's dorm room, the team re-grouped in a makeshift office for the BAU. Hotch and Spencer returned from the scene and told the team that there would be no chance for the unsub to actually watch the fire because the door was locked, and that the unsub would only hear Rowland's screams.

Fire Inspector Zhang had arrived a few minutes later with a box.

"He turned the water off just before the fire," Zhang said as the they all looked at the charred machine in the box. "The last three were set with these two devices with simultaneous ignition."

"There was no device used on Matthew Rowland," Gideon stated. "Unsub set that one manually?"

"He wanted to be there, to enjoy the kid's death," Morgan answered.

"Not necessarily," Hotch said.

"Well, if the target was Matthew Rowland, then why set the other two fires?" Elle asked.

"The motives for Arson are relatively simple," Spencer stated, "There's vandalism, crime concealment, political statement, and-"

"-revenge." Everyone turned to see a young Asian woman enter the room, a cup of coffee in her hand.

"I'm Emiko Hinata, but please call me Emi. I'm subbing for my friend who's the Chemistry professor, here," Emi introduced, walking over to Spencer to hand him the coffee, "I got you some coffee. 6 spoonfuls of sugar, as always."

Spencer took the coffee gratefully and smiled at her, "Thanks."

She smiled back before turning her attention to the rest of the people, who had been watching the two interact in curiosity. "I know the kid, and I've seen him around campus," Emi told them, "He seemed to be really well-liked. Talked to his roommate, too, and he seems to agree, so there's no reason for revenge."

"What about vandalism?" the dean questioned, disregarding Spencer and Emi's interactions.

Emi shook her head, "No, the fires are too sophisticated. If it was vandalism, the fire would've been at random, but the unsub, here, seems to have a goal."

Elle nodded in agreement, "And if he's trying to make a political statement, he's not being too clear about it."

"There's an underlying strategy in this case," Gideon said, giving Emi a curious glance. "Matthew, the firefighters, and your victims. To the unsub, they're not people, they're-"

"-they're objects," Hotch finished.

Gideon nodded, "More like-"

"-chess pieces," Spencer interrupted, this time.

Gideon made eye-contact with him before nodding, "Exactly."

* * *

"The timer sets the road flare, which then lights the chemical mixture inside the canister. Simple," Elle stated as she, Spencer, and Emi sat around the office, looking at the pieces on the table. Emi had offered to help, and the dean was quick to accept, knowing the PhDs Emi had.

"Yet sophisticated in its simplicity," Spencer said, shaking his head. "I mean, there's a meticulous construction to it."

"Chemical accelerant could mean chemistry student," Elle said.

"Could also mean chemistry professor," Spencer added, earning an offended look from Emi.

"Excuse me?"

"Right, sorry. Forgot you're the chemistry teacher, right now," Spencer said, meekly.

Emi gave him a face that told him that she didn't believe it. "You have eidetic memory...anyway, even if I wasn't the _only_ chemistry professor at the moment, I would still agree with Elle and say student. Trust me when I say this, you _need_ self-confidence to lecture or even talk in front of a classroom full of 30 to 40 college kids. You should probably also be good at roasting them..."

"Agreed," Elle said, chuckling a little at Emi's last comment. "Arsonists are socially incompetent. This guy doesn't go on dates. He doesn't go to parties. He doesn't feel comfortable in front of groups."

Spencer shifted in chair, feeling a little uncomfortable at the similarities he found within himself.

"And, of course, he's total psychopath," Elle quickly added when she made eye-contact with Reid.

"Course," Spencer mumbled, nodding to himself.

Emi knelt in front of him and took a hold of his hands. "Spencer, look at me," she ordered softly, making Spencer look at her. "You are _not_ like the unsub. Yes, you have some similarities in the social category, but that's it. Spence, you are kind, intelligent, and in control of your mind. I know for a fact that you would never intentionally harm someone, and if so it would be to protect someone. Besides, there's no way you could hide something like that from me."

Spencer let out a soft chuckle, "I guess you're right."

Elle stood to the side, smiling as she watched the couple interact. Although they never outright said it, it was blatantly obvious that there was something going on between them. And even though she didn't know Spencer for that long, Elle could tell that Emi was good for Spencer.

Unfortunately, Elle was forced to break the cute moment when her gaze drifted out the window, and she saw something.

"Uh, sorry to break your little moment, but..."

Spencer and Emi turned their attention away from each other and too see what Elle was looking at. Their eyes widen in horror when they saw it. The building next door was on fire.

* * *

The fire had been aimed to kill Professor Ralph Wallace, and unfortunately, it succeeded. Like Matthew Rowland, Professor Wallace was well-liked by the students. He was laid-back, very understanding, and rarely ever gave bad grades. There was no reason for someone to want to kill him.

"We've been at this all night, and we've got nothin'." Morgan groaned. The BAU and Emi were seated all around the office, trying to figure out the unsub.

Morgan picked up one of the developed pictures that Elle had taken. "Look at these expressions. We got fear, a touch of horror, even a little bit of panic. Where's the guy gettin' off."

"Spencer, what did Peter Dinsdale say when he was asked motives?" Emi asked, tiredly from where she sat, her head leaning on Spencer's shoulder. "Didn't he say something about a master?"

"'I am devoted to fire. Fire is my master.'," Spencer quoted.

"Okay, so who is our boy's master?" Morgan mumbled, turning on a lighter. "Ten thousand plus students, and one has a serious fascination with fire."

"Fire starting is one third of the homicidal triad an early predictor of adult dissociative criminal behavior," Elle said. "If we looked in his childhood, we'd probably find all three: bedwetting and cruelty to animals."

"Absent or abusive father," Emi mumbled, sadly. Spencer looked at her and gave her fingers a comforting squeeze.

"Trouble with the opposite sex, chronic low self-esteem-M.O. would be dynamic," Gideon said, "Evolving, fire setting escalates, they thrive on panic, fear. It's just the standard profile of a serial arsonist."

"Based on hundreds of interviews," Spencer said.

"Based on precedent," Morgan added.

"Everything the unsub should be, according to research," Elle muttered.

Hotch sighed. "We're off the mark."

"Because of the 2 missing elements," Gideon said, turning to Emi, "And they are...?"

Not having noticed that Gideon was talking to her, Emi sat there, waiting for someone to answer. After a few seconds, she noticed that everyone's gaze was on her. "Wait, you were asking me?"

With nod and a small smile from Gideon, Emi sat up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Uh, sex and power," she answered, nervously, "They're the two motives that usually drive a serial arsonist."

Gideon nodded in approval and smiled again before he turned serious. "And without 'em, we do not have a profile."

* * *

Emi and Spencer sat in one of the chemistry labs with Hotch, fire inspector Zhang, and four Graduate Chemistry students. The four students had claimed to have known how the unsub set the fires.

"Reid," Hotch said, "since you're more their age, why don't you do the talking?" Spencer stared at him, eyes wide in fear.

"So is Emi," Spencer pointed out.

"She isn't an Agent," Hotch countered.

"I'll step in if you really think you need help," Emi said, reassuringly.

Spencer gulped and stood up. "Hi-hi, guys." The students looked up at the sound of Spencer's voice. "Uh, my name's, uh, Dr. Spencer Reid. I'm a, uh, agent with the-the BAU, the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI, which, um, it used to be called the BSU, the Behavioral Science Unit, but not anymore."

Emi bit her lip to stop herself from laughing at how cute Spencer looked when he was rambling.

"They changed it to the BAU," she heard Spencer mutter under his breath before continuing his ramble, "Um, it's part of the NCAVC, the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime, which is also part of this thing called the CIRG, the Critical Incident Response Group, and-"

Emi couldn't hold it in any longer. She let out a laugh before stepping in for Spencer, "Look, what he's trying to say, is that it would be great if you guys could tell us how the unsub started the fires."

Jeremy, the only boy out of the four students, gave Emi a look. "Aren't you suppose to know this stuff, seeing as you're the sub for Chemistry?"

Emi propped her hand on her hip and glared at Jeremy. "I have to teach 346 of you guys, and only _30_ of you are decent at writing lab reports. The last time I slept was 4 days ago, and that was only for _2_ _hours_. So, excuse me if I can't think right now."

Jeremy put his hands up in surrender, "Sorry, Miss." He then held out his hand towards Spencer. "May I, please?" he asked, referring to the light bulb that was in Spencer's hand. Spencer handed it to him, and Jeremy held up the light bulb for everyone to see.

"Thank you-see this? Drill a hole in the side, fill it with gasoline or whatever's good and flammable."

Emi smacked her head and groaned, "And then when you turn on the light, it explodes and a fire starts. Of course! How did I miss that?"

"You're only on running on 2 hours of sleep, Miss," the boy said, cheekily.

"Oh, shut up, Jeremy."

"The stuff's all over the net." Everyone turned their attention towards Clara Hayes. A small movement caught Emi's eyes, and she now payed attention to how the girl kept twisting the ring on her finger in a pattern-three full circles, pause, another three circles, pause, and so on. "Wanna know how to make a Molotov cocktail that sets itself on fire?"

The two agents slowly nodded, a little wary.

"Potassium, sulfur, and normal sugar," Clara listed, counting with her fingers. "Sugar...sugar, which is...not exactly plutonium."

"You could get this stuff anywhere," Jeremy told them.

Clara nodded before clarifying in an excited voice, "Sugar from the supermarket."

"But you don't need to be a chem major to know that," Hotch said, causing the fire inspector to look at him.

"Do you think it's a chem student?"

"You wanna know what I think?" Jeremy said, smirking, "I think it would be a good time to take the semester off."

* * *

"God dammit," Emi muttered as she searched through her messenger bag, "I forgot my keys."

"Don't worry, I got 'chu, Ms. Emi," Jeremy said, taking out a key as he stepped into the elevator after Spencer and Hotch. "You need a key to get it movin' after 10:00 P.M." the boy explained to Spencer and Hotch.

"So, what are you still doin' here?" Hotch asked.

"I can't leave, we've all got projects," he said, letting out a bitter laugh. "Thanks for that, Ms. Emi."

"If I have to suffer through all of this, I'm taking you students down with me," Emi said, sending the boy a smirk.

"And you just _had_ to make us learn how to solve the 3 body problem? How to compute the mutual gravitational interaction between the earth, sun, and moon?" Jeremy grumbled.

"Oh, but of course."

* * *

" _Karen. I do this for Karen._ " Emi's eyebrows furrowed as she listened to the recording from the tip line of the police department.

"Play it again," Gideon ordered. They listened to it once again.

"The call came from the office right next to Wallace's, five minutes before the fire was started," Morgan explained. The team plus Emi nodded as Gideon continued to focus on the monitor.

"Play it again," he ordered and it was. "Again, louder."

" _Karen. I do this for Karen_."

"What is it?" Hotch asked when he saw Gideon's face contort in confusion.

"I'm not sure," Gideon admitted, shaking his head. "Somethin' about it."

"Is this tape clean?" Hotch asked.

"I can put it through some audio filters," a woman, who Emi learned was Penelope Garcia, the tech analyst for the BAU, said from Morgan's monitor.

Morgan nodded, "Look, we need as close to the real voice as you can get and anything that might be in the background. Can you do it?"

Garcia sent him a look. "Okay, so you know how on Star Trek when Captain Kirk asks McCoy to do something totally impossible, and McCoy says, "Damn it, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker"?" Garcia quoted, causing that scene to play in Emi's head.

"Hey, are you tellin' me, not to expect a miracle?" Morgan asked, receiving another look.

"No, I'm saying I'm a doctor."

"That's my girl."

Emi leaned closer to Spencer, who also leaned closer to her. "Are they dating?" Emi asked in a hushed voice.

Spencer shook his head, "No, they just tend say phrases like that to each other."

"Oh," Emi said, nodding in understanding, "They're cute."

* * *

"Alright guys, so according to your teacher, you guys are supposed to have this huge 100 question exam on this unit, and today's your review day." Emi couldn't help but smile when the class in front her all groaned. "But, because you guys seem stressed enough already, and I don't want to grade those, I'm just going to combine all of your quiz grades. If any of you want to retake a quiz, talk to me after class, and we'll set up a date and maybe get you a tutor if you need one." In the corner of her eye, she saw Spencer and Gideon walk into the classroom, taking a seat in the far, back-corner of the class.

"Other than that, let's talk about random stuff that we have on our mind. Anyone want to start?"

Excitedly, a boy sitting in the third row raised his hand. "Oh! So, you know how we were complaining about Mrs. Smith, that super strict Bio teacher that doesn't teach? Guess what she's making us do, now..."

* * *

 **An hour and 30 minutes later...**

"Okay, guys, you're dismissed to lunch. Don't drunk drive, don't do drugs, and don't text and drive. If I find that you're absent next class because of any of those reasons, I will give you an F for failing in life." The students all laughed as they packed up their stuffs and left, a couple staying behind to talk to Emi about something.

Once she was done talking to the students who stayed behind, Emi turned to Spencer and Gideon, who both had stayed the entire time.

"So, how'd I do? Did I pass?" Emi joked, grabbing her lunch before walking over to them.

"You didn't even teach them anything," Spencer pointed out.

"Exactly."

"I think you a good job," Gideon commented, "You took into consideration how much work and stress your students were being put under, not many teachers do that."

"Finally, someone who isn't a student gets it!" Emi cheered. "I remember back when I was in school, teachers would give me tests, projects, and a whole bunch of homework piled on top of each other. It _killed_ me."

Spencer frowned, "I don't remember feeling like that."

"Oh, that's because you were a little, teenage genius who did nothing _but_ homework," Emi teased, " _I_ on the other hand had other things to do."

"What other things?" Spencer asked.

"Oh, nothing important, really," Emi said, waving it off. "Anyways, let's all go eat outside. I need some fresh air."

* * *

Emi, Spencer, and Gideon were now outside. Gideon was walking back and forth on the grass, while Spencer sat against a tree, both of them watching students move about on the campus. Emi was reading a book, sitting in the same tree Spencer was leaning against.

"What if the unsub is one of the students leaving?" she heard Spencer ask.

"No, he's not done yet," Gideon dismissed, "He's not goin' anywhere. Keep thinkin'."

"You mean, out-outside the box?" Spencer asked, "That's what Morgan's always telling me. He says that's why I can never beat you at chess."

"Well, he's not wrong," Emi commented, causing Gideon to smirk.

"But, I mean, in this situation, what exactly is the box?" Spencer asked.

"The standard profile of a serial arsonist," Gideon explained. Spencer slowly nodded to let Gideon know that he somewhat understood. "If everything you know goes in the box, what's left?"

"What you don't know," Spencer answered, "The unknown."

"Sometimes you have to get creative," Gideon said, "Even if you think it's utterly unlikely, you have to think of things nobody else thought of."

"Like a stutter," Spencer said, causing Emi to look up from her book in confusion.

"I'm sorry, what?"

She didn't get answer from either of them when Gideon nodded. "Yeah, exactly."

* * *

"So, while Gideon's wandering around campus, what do you want to do?" Emi asked as Spencer opened the door to her classroom. "Thanks."

"I don't really know. Is there anything you want to do?" Spencer asked back.

"Well, I'm not sure about want, but I _need_ to finish grading these lab reports," Emi said, gesturing towards the stack of papers on her desk. "I've procrastinated long enough. Once I'm done with this pile, I'm all yours."

"Well, I can help you grade these," Spencer offered, already grabbing two-thirds of the stack.

"Aww, that's so sweet, thank you," Emi said, taking out two purple pens. "Just check for correct information, format, and grammar. Format and grammar mistakes get half points off each, and incorrect information is one point off. If you can see where they're coming, take off half a point."

"Okay."

* * *

They were one paper away from being done, when Spencer spoke up.

"Um, this student didn't write anything about science. He wrote a story about a prince and a princess who were in love, but then the princess ended up running away with a mermaid. I mean, there's a lot more to the story than that, but that was the plot."

Emi laughed. "Let me guess, it was written by a boy named Kyle Portman?"

"Uh, yes."

"Here, I'll grade that one. He was absent on lab day, so I told him to write one of the craziest stories he can think of," Emi explained. "I usually don't do something like that, but he and a few other students helped me plan this lab out, so I let it slide."

"You can do that?"

"Probably not, but I'm just the sub. Melissa's gonna be back next week so, I don't really care if I get fired now." Spencer watched as Emi's eyes quickly scanned over the story, chuckling a few times. "Did you find any grammar mistakes?"

"No."

"Then, 100." Emi wrote the number onto the paper, drawing a big smiley face next to it. "There, now we're done." After gathering all of the papers and placing them neatly into her bag, Emi turned to Spencer, wrapping her arms around Spencer's neck. "Now, how do I thank you?"

Spencer nervously gulped, cautiously wrapping his arms around Emi's waist. "I-I can think of a way," he said.

Emi smirked and the two leaned closer for a kiss. However, it was interrupted by Spencer's phone ringing.

"Goddammit."

* * *

The call had been from Morgan, telling them that break time was over and that they needed them to help figure out the unsub. They were now back in the office, looking over the clues, Spencer with Hotch, and Emi with Morgan.

"Okay, gorgeous, I've put this thing through every audio filter I've got." Garcia said from Morgan's monitor. "There's only one thing I can tell you for sure. This guy isn't saying "Karen." It's more like "Ka-rown."

Morgan and Emi made eye-contact before he asked, "Garcia, what the hell is Ka-rown?"

"If I figure it out, does it earn me a night of passionate love-making?" Garcia asked, causing Emi to choke back a laugh.

"Most definitely, sweetness...with Reid." Emi laughed out loud, causing Spencer to look in their direction, a look of confusion on his face.

Emi laughing, "Sorry, Garcia. You seem sweet and all, but I don't share."

"Oh, he's all yours, honey," Garcia said, laughing along. "Bye."

"Bye."

"Bye-bye."

"What was that about?" Spencer asked, walking over to Morgan and Emi.

"Oh, nothing you need to worry about, Doc," Emi said, shaking her head. "Anyways, Garcia says it's not "Karen."

Morgan nodded, "Yeah, she said it's actually somethin' more like-"

"Charown." Gideon interrupted as he ran into the room, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

"Charown?" Spencer repeated.

"Charown," Gideon confirmed, "I do it because of Charown."

"That's Hebrew," Spencer said.

"It's god's word in anger," Gideon translated.

"The motive is now religious?" Elle asked as she and Hotch made their way over to them.

"Well, you know, in a lot of religions, god is related to fire," Spencer spouted, causing the group to nod in understanding.

"Well, brahman is fire in Hinduism," Hotch said.

"God is also seen as a pillar of fire by the Jews, and Christians worship God as a consuming fire," Emi stated. She gave Elle a look of confusion when she saw the woman throw Spencer a salad bowl.

"Okay, so we're lookin' for a theology major. Maybe he's punishing the other students for their sins," Morgan suggested as Spencer gave the salad back to Elle.

"I already ate."

"Not necessarily," Emi argued, "They don't have to be a theology major. They or their family could just be super religious."

"True, but what's the most sinful place on campus?" Elle asked, earning a look from Morgan.

"Come on, Elle. When I was college, that was everywhere," Morgan said.

"A fraternity?" Hotch suggested.

"A campus bar?" Elle tried.

Emi shook her head, "No. None of them are consistent with the previous targets. One of the victims was a professor, remember?"

"Alright, then what about the idea of baptism by fire?" Morgan asked, "Aren't we all supposed to be tested through fire in revelations?"

"Look, it's good, it's good, but let's please do not jump to conclusions," Gideon ordered, "Religion might be a part of it, but it's not necessarily the prime compulsion."

"Gideon, rush to conclusions, jump to conclusions. Who cares?" Morgan snapped.

"We are running out of time!" Elle added.

Emi lightly tugged on Spencer's sleeve, making the genius look down at her. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked, quietly.

Spencer's eyes scanned her before he nodded slowly. "Compulsion," they both said.

* * *

" _This is crazy. Hey, Mac, get over here. You gotta see this._ "

Spencer and Emi stared at the monitor as they watched the video again.

And again.

And again.

And _again_.

Each time, Emi's attention would focus on the door knob when it turned 3 times. Something was telling her that it was important, that it was something familiar. But what?

Giving up on watching the video, Emi stood up from her seat and walked over to the white board, staring at Gideon's notes.

"Outside the box," Spencer muttered as he stood behind her. Suddenly, he reached over her and erased the white board.

Understanding what he was trying to do, Emi wrote "FIRE" at the top of the board, drawing a box around it.

"Keep thinkin'." Emi and Spencer turned around to see Gideon poking his head through the door. "It's like chess. Don't look at just the next move. Try to look 3 moves ahead."

 _Three._ Why did that number stand out so much for Emi?

"Hey, Spencer, did you notice that the unsub turned the doorknob slowly 3 times?" Emi asked, "Do you think it might have a meaning?"

Spencer eyes widened when he realized what Emi was trying to say. He quickly played the video, paying close attention to the door knob.

"Emi, you are absolutely brilliant!" Spencer cheered, standing up. "I could kiss you right n-" He was cut off by Emi tugging him down by his tie to give him quick kiss on the lips.

"Way ahead of you," Emi said when she pulled away, "Now, let's go back to the crime scenes. See if we can find any more patterns-"

"-of three."

* * *

The two rushed down to Professor Wallace's office. Once they reached it, Spencer wiped off the debris on the room number.

It was room number #3.

* * *

Spencer opened the door to Matthew Rowland's room, him and Emi cautiously walking into the room. They walked over to Rowland's desk so they could something that could help confirm their suspicions.

"I found it," Emi said as she took out a binder. On the cover was Rowland's schedule.

"Professor Wallace. Tuesday, 3:00."

* * *

"We know why the profiles never fit," Spencer said as he and Emi entered the office Hotch and Gideon were in. "You were right to tell Morgan to not rely on precedent. The fires thus far have been completely task oriented."

"So once they're set, the unsub is done?" Hotch asked, and Spencer nodded.

"Exactly. The unsub is not a classical serial arsonist. He's someone who uses fire because of a completely different disorder."

"Which is?" Gideon urged.

"OCD, or obsessive compulsive disorder. A very extreme version of it," Emi explained, "It took us a while, but we realized that everything he did were in 3's."

"And if we're right, he'll have to kill again," Spencer added. "There's a form of OCD called scrupulosity."

"Religious obsession and compulsion," Hotch clarified.

Emi nodded, "An obsessive fear of committing sin. It creates so much anxiety for a person that they _have_ to do something to ease that anxiety."

"Like setting fires."

"Where's the behavioral evidence?" Gideon asked, running a hand over his tired eyes.

"Right here," Spencer said, opening a file. "All right. Remember the night of the 3 fires? We saw the doorknob turning against the lock, but Emi noticed that he only did 3 slow turns. He's not trying to get in. He's compelled to turn the doorknob 3 times."

"Well, what about the fires?" Gideon asked, "The first ones were single fires. If the unsub was OCD, shouldn't they have all been in 3's?"

"They _were_ in 3's," Emi said, "A trinity of 3's. The first fire occurred at 3:00 on March 3rd."

"3:00 P.M., third day, third month."

"It's that convergence of 3's that causes the overwhelming anxiety," Spencer explained. "Obsessive compulsives ease the anxiety by performing the compulsion."

"What about the other fires?" Hotch asked. "Professor Wallace?"

"Office number 3," Emi said, "He had classes on Tuesday's."

"Third day of the week," Hotch mumbled.

"Emi and I checked for other patterns of three," Spencer informed them, "Matthew Rowland was in that class. It was his third class of the day. If we looked into each of the fires we'd find a lot of patterns having to do with 3's-"

"-but it's always a trinity of 3's," Emi added, "No more, no less."

"Yes, and we would find them because our minds are incredibly adept at seeking out patterns," Spencer continued, "But to the unsub, once that pattern hits, bam-he sets a fire."

"But if the target was always people, why did no one die in the first few fires?" Gideon asked.

"They were failures," Spencer admitted, sadly, "Up until Matthew Rowland."

"This unsub will still probably have about the same general social issues as a regular arsonist," Emi said, "it's just that if you pay close attention, you will notice that they may do things in...Oh my god."

"What is it?" Gideon asked.

"I think I know who it is," Emi admitted, "Remember that girl that repeated sugar like 3 times?"

"The chemistry student," Hotch realized.

Emi nodded. "Clara Hayes."

* * *

"Remember when we talked to her and some other students? I noticed that she a ring on her finger, and she kept turning it in intervals of 3," Emi explained.

Hotch nodded, "And she counted off the ingredients of a light bulb bomb."

"And the word "sugar," Spencer realized.

"Yeah," Hotch agreed, "And she kept repeating it. Once she started, she couldn't stop."

"Yeah, it's palilalia. It's the involuntary repetition of words," Spencer explained. "Howard Hughes had it when his OCD worsened."

"Clara and her classmates were working on a project about gravitational pull," Hotch added.

"The 3 body problem." Gideon realized.

* * *

"Moloch was the demon sun God of the Canaanites," Spencer explained to Morgan over the phone. He had called to tell them about what they found in Clara's room. According to him, the walls were covered with papers with passages from books written on them. "In order to keep from his wrath, the people would sacrifice their children to him by burning them alive."

"Guys, you should probably see this," Emi said as her eyes scanned over an article she found online. She printed it out and handed it to Hotch.

"Sixteen-year-old survives inferno," Hotch read. "Mother Ellen Hayes called it a miracle."

" _My daughter was tested by God_ ," Emi quoted, " _He tested my child and she came through blessed_.

 _"That's messed up,"_ Emi heard Morgan say over the phone.

"I know right, but look at the house number," Emi told Gideon as Hotch handed him the article.

"333."

* * *

"Security's checking the science building," the dean informed them.

"Well, where else would she be?" Gideon asked.

"We need to find the next pattern of 3's," Spencer said, "Emi can you think of any?"

"I'm trying," Emi said, grabbing a fistful of her hair, pulling on it, "There's too many possibilities. Oh, god, I'm so sorry. I feel so useless, right now."

"Hey, hey. No, Emi, it's fine," Spencer said, soothingly. He placed his hands on top of Emi's and gently pulled them away from her hand and down in front of her. "You're doing a great job. We probably would've never figured out who it was if you hadn't noticed the doorknob."

"That's not true," Emi protested, "You're a genius, Spence. You would've figured it out."

"Stop belittling yourself," Spencer chided, "If I'm not allowed to think negatively about myself, then neither are you."

Emi gave him a weak smile, "All right."

"Morgan, seal the building, get everybody out of there, and walk away," they heard Hotch order.

"What's going on?" Emi asked Gideon.

"Morgan and Elle just found thirty bombs in Hayes apartment," Gideon explained before turning to campus security. "We need to send our people into every building and have them start pulling fire alarms. Please, go."

The men ran out of the ran as Gideon continued to give orders.

"Mead, a map of the campus." The said woman nodded and rushed to get a map. "We need to find anything and everything having to do with the number."

"Gideon, hold on," Emi said, making the man stop. "I know Clara Hayes. She's a good person, she would never want to hurt anyone, like any other rational person."

"But there's nothing rational about obsessive compulsive disorder," Hotch pointed out.

"Research suggests OCD involves problems in communication between the frontal of the brain and the orbital complex," Spencer explained as Gideon looked between the three of them, "Plus deeper structures, the basal ganglia."

"You can't reason with her because you can't reason with a physiological problem," Hotch warned, earning confused looks from both Gideon and Emi. "She's not setting these fires because she wants to, but because she has to."

"What are you trying to say?" Gideon asked.

"Don't try to convince her to stop, because you won't be able to," Hotch clarified.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to try, would it?" Emi said, walking out of the door. Gideon looked between Hotch and Spencer, before following Emi.

* * *

"Where are we going?" Gideon asked as he followed Emi through the hallways.

"I'm not exactly sure if I'm right, I mean it's long-shot, but might as well try," Emi said, not exactly answering Gideon's question.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Okay, so a week ago, I assigned my students different projects," Emi began to explain. "I assigned three of my students a project where they had to learn how to solve the 3 body problem. They are probably the most stubborn students I've ever met. They aren't going to let anything stop them from getting a good grade."

"But, that's only two sets of 3's," Gideon pointed out.

"They have to work on it in the chemistry lab which is on the 4th floor of the science building. My guess is that they're going to use to the elevator, and Clara's going to stop it-"

"-at the 3rd floor," Gideon realized.

"Exactly."

* * *

"God chose me to be tested," Emi and Gideon heard Clara say as they neared the 3rd floor, "and now he's chosen them. If I don't do this, something terrible will happen."

"What's gonna happen, Clara?" They heard Hotch say. Emi blinked. How did Hotch get there before them? "A flood? An earthquake? You know this isn't rational."

"I know. I know. I know."

"Then resist."

"I can't," Clara said. "They must be tested. God's wrath..."

"Clara, stop!" Emi shouted as ran into the room, Gideon right behind her. "You can't do this!"

"I have to," Clara said, staring at the burning flare.

"But you can't," Emi said. She mouthed a quick "trust me" to Hotch and whispered the same thing to Gideon before talking to Clara. "It's not trinity of 3's anymore."

Clara turned to look at Emi with wide eyes, "What?"

"There's now four sets of 3," Emi said, cautiously walking towards Clara. "Three students, learning the 3 body problem, stuck on the 3rd floor. But there's also 3 FBI agents."

"But you're a teacher," Clara protested.

"I was made an FBI agent a few minutes ago," Emi lied, "I don't have a badge, yet, but it's official."

Clara frantically looked back and forth between Emi and the agents, the flare in her hand, the students in the elevator, and the number 3 near the elevator.

"Just roll the flare over here," Emi urged, "You can't set the fire anymore."

Whimpering, Clara dropped the flare and rolled it over towards Emi and Gideon. Gideon stomped on the flare to put it out while Emi rushed over to Clara, pulling the now crying girl into a hug.

"There, there." Emi comforted, "I'm so sorry, Clara, but I lied to you. I'm not an FBI agent."

"What?" came the small whimper from the girl.

"But, it's okay. See? You didn't do it, and nothing bad happened. Nothing bad _will_ happen. I promise," Emi said, pulling away to make Clara look at her in the eyes, "We're going to get you to a hospital, and you're going to get better, okay?"

Still shaking, Clara nodded her head, "Okay."

* * *

"I'll be home on Saturday," Emi told Spencer, as they stood in front of the airport. "You'll be okay until then?"

"I've survived for 3 months. I think I can handle 3 more days without you," Spencer said, smiling.

"Ouch, those words are harsh," Emi said, dramatically placing a hand over her heart.

Spencer chuckled, looking down at her, lovingly. "I'll miss you."

Emi lowered her hand and smiled at him, "Me too. But don't worry. Three days."

"Three days," Spencer repeated. "I better go or I'll miss my flight."

"Okay," Emi said, sadly. She got onto her toes to give Spencer a quick kiss. "Bye-bye."

"Bye." Emi waved her hand good-bye as Spencer walked into the airport. She dropped her hand sadly once Spencer was out of sight.

"Emi," Emi turned around to see Hotch walking over her. "Good work, you helped us a lot."

Emi smiled at the man, "It was nothing really. You probably would've figured it out without me."

"Even so, if you hadn't reasoned with Clara Hayes, we might've had to result in shooting her," Hotch said. He took out a card and gave it to Emi. "Expect a call from this number soon. I think you'd make a good addition to the team."

"You can't be serious," Emi gasped, taking the card. "Thank you, I will do my best to do whatever I can to help."

Emi could've sworn she saw Hotch give her a small smile, but he had walked away before she could make sure.

Emi looked down at the card, and smiled, still a little shocked. "I did it, Spencer," she whispered to herself. "I finally did it."


	2. 1-03 - Won't Get Fooled Again

"Oh god, what am I going to do? Today's my first day! What if I mess up?!" Emi cried frantically as she paced around her and Spencer's bedroom.

"You'll be fine," Spencer tried to reassure his girlfriend.

"But you don't know that! What if they hate me?!"

"They don't hate you, in fact they _love_ you," Spencer said.

"But they've never met me!"

"Emi, they met you last week," Spencer reminded her, "Remember Clara Hayes' case?"

Emi calmed down, "Oh, right."

Spencer chuckled, "We should probably get to work, now. Don't want to be late for your first day."

Emi grabbed her helmet and tossed Spencer his. "I'm driving."

* * *

Derek Morgan had just exited his car when he heard the running engine of a motorcycle. Curious, Morgan looked up to see a motorcycle with two people on it, driving into the parking space next to him.

Morgan let out a low whistle as the engine turned off. "Sweet ride," he complimented.

The first rider got off the motorcycle and took off their helmet, revealing Emi. "Thanks, Morgan," she said, running a hand through her hair.

"Emi?" Morgan asked in shock, "Wait, does that mean...?"

"Hey, Morgan," Spencer said nervously. He also took off his helmet, giving his co-worker a nervous smile.

"Spencer Reid, the rambling nerdy genius, riding a motorcycle," Morgan said, shaking his head in disbelief, "I never would've saw this coming."

"Spencer Reid, is that you?" the group turned to see Elle making her way towards them. "Oh my god, it _is_!"

"Why are you guys so shocked that I ride a motorcycle?" Spencer grumbled.

"Because you're _Spencer Reid_." Elle said, emphasizing on his name. "I would've thought you'd be spouting out facts about how dangerous it is riding one."

"Actually, 60% of the crashes are usually caused by the car drivers, not motorcyclists," Spencer stated. "People _think_ that motorcyclist are reckless, but it's actually the people in _cars_ that don't pay attention to them."

Morgan chuckled, "And welcome back, Reid."

Elle shook her head in disbelief, "I still don't see it. You riding a _moped_ is more believable than this."

"We actually do have a moped," Emi told them, "Well, actually, the moped's _mine_. I drive it when I need to go somewhere nearby by myself. If we need to go somewhere together, we use the motorcycle. Spencer uses the subway whenever he can. He also has a Volvo that we use if either one of us, or both of us need to go somewhere far away. It's adorable, pink, and-oh, that reminds me! Spencer, can I repaint the car? I found the perfect shade of blue!"

Spencer, Morgan, and Elle all laughed at Emi's rambling. "Okay," Spencer agreed, and with that, the four all made their way into the building.

* * *

"Hi, I'm Special Agent Jennifer Jareau, JJ if you like," a blonde woman said, walking up to the group as soon as they walked through the elevator doors and onto the BAU floor. "I'm the unit liason. My specialty is untangling bureaucratic knots."

"Hi, I'm Emiko-" Emi started to say.

"-Hinata," JJ finished, "But you prefer to go by Emi. You have an IQ of 164, and you graduated from Quantico as part of the top 10, but you didn't join the FBI until now because you wanted to get more PhD's. Now, you have 3 PhD's one in Criminology, Psychology, and Sociology, and 2 bachelors in Chemistry and Forensic Science."

Emi eyes widened in surprise, "Wow, you learned all of that from my files?"

"No, Spencer told us." At that, Spencer's face turned bright face.

"Oh, did he, now?" Emi asked, earning a sheepish smile from her boyfriend.

"You know, he never once talked about how you two met," Elle mused. "I'm quite interested in how that happened."

Emi and Spencer exchanged wary looks. "Um, well, you see..."

"Wait! I need to listen, too!" another woman cried, dashing over to them. She pulled Emi into a hug."I'm Penelope Garcia, it's so nice to finally meet you!"

"Um, nice to meet you, too." Emi said, returning the hug.

"So? How did you two meet?"

Emi looked at Spencer who seemed a bit uncomfortable. "Do you want to tell them? We don't have to if you feel uncomfortable."

Spencer shook his head, "No, that'll just make them more curious." The group made their way to Spencer's desk and sat around it. "So, a little background for you guys, when I was, uh, 12 and in my senior year...um, there was this girl, Alexa Libson. She was one of the prettiest girls in school back at the time. Um, so one day, I was in the library and her friend, Harper Hillman, comes up to me and tells me that uh, Alexa Libson wants to meet me behind the field house..."

 _"Hey!" 12-year-old Spencer Reid looked up from his big book to see Harper Hillman, the second most popular girl in the school, standing in front of him. "You're Spencer Reid, right?"_

 _"Um...yes?" Spencer stuttered, unsure of what to say._

 _"So, Alexa Libson-you know her, right? Well, she wants to meet you behind the field house," the girl said. There was a strange glint of mischief in her eyes, but it went unnoticed by Spencer._

"Now that I think back on it, the request was a bit strange, but I guess I was too nervous and excited to care," Spencer admitted, earning a small squeeze on the fingertips by Emi.

"So what happened? Alexa wasn't there?" Morgan asked.

Spencer shook his head, "No, she was there. And so was the entire football team."

 _Spencer rounded the corner of the old field house and froze to a stop when he saw that Alexa wasn't alone. With her was the entire football team and the popular squad._

 _"Hey, Spencer," Alexa said, in a sickly sweet voice. "I'm so glad you came."_

 _Suddenly, two football players came up from behind Spencer and grabbed his arms, lifting him up._

"They stripped me naked, and tied me to a goal post," Spencer said, shaking a little. Emi laid her head on Spencer's shoulders as comfort while everyone else exchanged sad looks. "So many kids were there, you know, just watching."

 _"W-what are you doing?! Please stop! No, please!" Spencer cried, struggling, but his pleas were ignored as everyone laughed._

"And nobody tried to stop them?" JJ asked, appalled.

Spencer shook his head again, "Mmm-mmm. I-I begged them to, but they just watched."

 _"Please!" the little boy cried as he wriggled against the ropes. He could feel the ropes scratching and giving him rope burns, but he didn't care. All he wanted was to get free and run home._

"But, luckily, Emi had heard the commotion and went to see what was going on," Spencer said, giving Emi a small smile.

"My brothers, Haru and Daichi, were enrolling into the same high school, and it just so happened that they decided to do the school tour that day," Emi explained, "I also wanted to tag-along to see what the _high school life_ was, so it honestly just pure luck."

 _"Hey!" Suddenly, a book was thrown at Alexa's head._

 _"Who the fuck are you, and how_ dare _you throw something at me!" Alexa snarled, turning around. She was shocked to see a small Asian girl glaring at her._

 _"How dare I? How dare_ you _!" The girl shouted, "Tying that boy up there, and without clothes, too! You are an ugly, disgusting monster! You let him down right now!"_

 _"Or what?" one of the football players laughed._

 _"Or I will scream," the girl threatened, "I will scream, and my brothers will come!"_

 _Everyone just laughed._

"They actually dared to laugh at me," Emi cried, indignantly, "I bet they thought my brothers were the stereotypical skinny Asian nerds."

Spencer nodded, "To be honest, I thought that, too."

 _"What are they going to do? Nerd us to death?" Harper laughed. "I say we do the same thing we did to the shrimp on the pole. Teach her not to mess with us."_

 _The two football players that had grabbed Spencer moved to grab Emi. But before they could, Emi opened her mouth and let out the loudest, high-pitched scream that could've been heard for miles._

"My brothers and I hate stereotypes," Emi said, "I mean, yes, we're smart, but we're not nerds-I mean, I suppose I am... But we made sure to exercise everyday to get our bodies into good shape."

 _"Emi!" To everyone's surprise, instead of short, skinny Asian nerds like everyone had expected, two tall, muscular Asians came running round the corner. Alexa and Harper gasped as they stared at the abs that could be seen through the brothers' shirts._

 _"Oi!" one of the brothers shouted, spotting Spencer, "What do you think you're doing, bullying a little kid?"_

 _"That_ kid _is a senior, who thinks he's better than us just because he's only 12," a football player snarled._

 _"No I don't!" the boy protested, but he was too far away to be heard._

 _The other brother snorted, "He's 12 and in his_ senior _year. Of course he's better than us. Can you believe this guy, Daichi? Thinking he's better than a 12-year-old genius."_

 _Daichi nodded, "What a dumbass."_

 _The other brother, Haru, cracked his knuckles. "Alright, now my brother and I will give you all 10 seconds to run away, or things will get messy, are we clear?"_

 _Unfortunately, one of the football players decided to be an idiot and attack Daichi from behind. Before he could, Daichi elbowed the guy and turned around to knee him in the gut. The guy fell to the ground, and Daichi dusted off his hands._

 _"So," Haru glared at everyone, "Anyone else want to try that?"_

 _Without saying a word, everyone ran away, Alexa and Harper being the first to do so. While that was happening, Emi had run over to Spencer and untied him._

 _"Are you okay?" she asked, not fazed by the fact that he was naked._

 _"Y-Yeah," Spencer muttered, blushing bright red because he was naked in front of her._

"Woah, woah, woah," Morgan said, stopping the story, "You saw Reid naked, and you didn't react at all?"

"He was embarrassed enough," Emi said, "The last thing he needed was a girl freaking out because of how naked he was."

"Alright, alright," Morgan laughed, raising his hands in defeat. "Just tell me one thing. Has he grown at all?"

Spencer frowned, not getting the innuendo, "Well, when I was 12, I was only 5'2. Now, I'm 6'1, so yeah. I did grow."

Morgan shook his head and looked at Emi for the answer. Emi rolled her eyes and smirked, "The answer is yes."

Elle, JJ, and Garcia smirked while Morgan let out a loud laugh. "My man!"

Spencer looked at them in confusion, "What?"

Elle gave Spencer a pat on the shoulder, "Just continue with the story."

"Okay...?"

 _"Hey, kid, you feeling okay?" Haru asked, walking up to Spencer. He pulled Emi away and turned her around while Daichi gave Spencer his clothes back._

 _"An answer for that is more of a matter of opinion," Spencer stated as he slipped his underwear and pants on first. "But, yeah. I'm feeling okay."_

 _"You must be feeling traumatized," Haru said, "Here, why don't you tell us your address. We'll take you home."_

 _Spencer slipped on his sweater and told them his address. Hearing it, Emi turned around, an excited look on her face._

 _"Hey! I think we live right next to each other!" she said. "We just moved in, too! Mom says it's always good to get to know your neighbors."_

 _"Yep," Daichi confirmed. "Now, let's go to the car, it's getting late."_

* * *

 _Emi, Daichi, and Haru had dropped Spencer off at his house, but a few minutes later, he was on their front porch, ringing the doorbell with his backpack on his back._

 _Emi was the one that answered the door. "Spencer?" Emi asked, confused. That's when she realized that Spencer was sniffling, close to tears. "Spencer! What's wrong?"_

 _"M-my mom has s-schizophr-phrenia," Spencer sniffled, "She's in one of her episodes."_

 _Emi's eyes widened and she opened the door further, "Oh my gosh, come in! I'm sure I can convince Mom and Michael to let you stay for the night."_

 _"Thanks," Spencer said, stepping into the house._

* * *

"Her mom and step-dad were more than willing to let me stay," Spencer said, smiling at the memory. "And with Daichi and Haru at the same school as me, the bullying stopped."

"Spencer and I became best friends after that!" Emi declared, hugging Spencer's arm. "After high school, he went to a nearby college, and after I graduated, we both went to CalTech. And at 20, after I got my PhD in Psychology, we moved here to Virginia, where I went to the University of Maryland, College Park and we both went to Quantico."

Garcia couldn't help but squeal, "Oh, that's adorable! When did you guys start dating?"

"4 years ago, I believe," Emi mused, "I'm not sure exactly how long ago, but-"

"4 years, 11 months, and 29 days," Spencer informed them.

"But Spencer does," Emi finished. "It was cute, he was a stuttering mess."

"That story was absolutely adorable," JJ said, getting up from where she sat, "but, it completely distracted me from what I was suppose to tell you. Assuming that Hotch and Gideon will arrive on time, there's gonna be a briefing in about..." JJ checked her phone. "Right now, actually."

* * *

"Pipe bombs," Morgan mumbled as the team looked down at the pictures of the weapon. Apparently, there had been multiple bombs have gone off in Palm Beach, Florida, killing multiple people. "Packed in cardboard boxes."

"Package bombs," Hotch said.

"Sent through the mail?" Gideon asked.

"No," Morgan answered before adding, "The other picture in your hand is of the switch that ATF found. Same mechanism for both bombs, mercury-activated."

"What does that mean?" Elle asked.

"There are contacts to a detonator on either end of a bent tube full mercury," Spencer explained.

Seeing Elle's confused face, Emi decided to clarify what Spencer had said. "What he means is that all you need to do is tilt the package to set it off."

"So they couldn't have been sent through the mail," Elle realized, "The bomber had to deliver them, himself."

Emi nodded, "Bingo."

"Strange way to commit an act of terrorism," Hotch muttered, "Why go to all this trouble kill just a few people?"

"Let's recommend not raising the terror alert level for now," Gideon instructed, "No reason to spread in panic."

"We got news," JJ said, walking into the room. She grabbed the remote to turn on the TV, "This is just a local channel, but the coverage is everywhere, now- CNN, FOX, MSNBC, Al-Jazeera, you name it."

"So much for not spreading panic," Hotch mumbled.

"I never liked FOX news," Emi commented, quietly, "They're way too Republican-biased."

The team all chuckled as they watched the news.

" _According to doctors, he's badly injured, but in stable condition in the I.C.U.,_ " the news-reporter, Rosalie Escobar, reported, " _Now, neighbors say that they heard a blast at about 10:30 this morning, and police arrived..."_

"If DHS doesn't raise the terror alert now, they'll look weak," Gideon said.

"Make sure homeland security knows that this is everywhere," Hotch ordered JJ.

Just as JJ was about to leave, a bomb exploded near the location of the news-reporter.

"Woah..."

" _I just felt that! Are you all right? Is everyone all right?"_

"Looks like we're going to Palm Beach. Let's meet at the airstrip in 20," Hotch ordered.

Emi could only manage a nod as she continued to watch the TV.

" _This is live, I repeat this is live._ "

"What are you thinking?" Morgan asked, drawing Emi's attention away from the TV.

"Huh? Oh, nothing really," Emi said, "It's just...this doesn't seem much like a terrorist attack does it? But then, what would the cause be...?"

"I don't know," Morgan admitted, "But that's our job-to find out."

* * *

"Bombings occurred within 3 miles of each other," Hotch said as he walked into the main area of the plane, "First victim was 74-year-old widow, Barbra Keller. Clurman got hit in his driveway, and 45 minutes later, well, we all saw that-Jill Swenson, housewife who lived across the street from Clurman of the 3, only Clurman survived."

"Was there any connection between the victims?" Spencer asked, looking up from the book he and Emi were reading together. Emi used this moment to turn the page in order to read ahead.

"One, Clurman was a partner in a $10-million condo development deal in which Keller was an investor, and a few weeks ago, the deal went bust," Hotch explained.

"Went bust how?" Elle asked from the seat across from the couple.

"Geologists discovered that the land was on methan, the condos never got built, the land became worthless, and Clurman lost a lot of people and a lot of money," Hotch said.

"That is a very long sentence," Emi commented, not looking up from the book. Morgan, who had decided to sit on the other side of Emi, snorted, earning a jab to the rib from the girl.

"So, maybe one of them was mad enough to take aim at Clurman?" Spencer suggested before going back to his book.

"No, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Gideon warned, smirking when he saw Emi smack Spencer's hand away from the page as he moved to turn it. "It's a little too early to theorize about motive."

"Then where do we start?" Elle asked.

"This is kinda like reading a book," Emi stated, her eyes quickly reading the last sentence of the page before finally letting Spencer turn the page. "We just read the summary, and now we're interested, so what do we do? We start reading from the beginning."

Gideon nodded in agreement. "Exactly," he agreed before turning to Spencer, "What do we know about bombers?"

"Most male," Spencer started.

"Aren't most killers?" Emi commented, making the genius give her a playful glare. "Sorry, continue on."

"Thanks," Spencer said, making a face at her, "Um, about 50% of all bombings are actually a product of vandalism. And-"

"And most of the time the bombers are either stupid enough to get themselves blown or are suicide bombers. You should always look at the victims as the first suspects," Emi continued, never once looking up from the book.

Spencer pouted, " _I_ was going to say that. Gideon was asking _me_."

Emi looked up from the book and pouted back, "Oh, I'm _sowwy_. Did small, mean Emi hurt _wittle_ baby Spencer's ego?"

Spencer surprised the rest of the team by sticking his tongue out at her, causing the girl to laugh.

Elle also laughed at how childish and un-Reid-like Spencer was acting, but continued the discussion. "Clurman was the only male," she pointed out, "Losing a large business deal like that could be a powerful stressor."

"Well, then there's the crime scene," Gideon said. He had also smiled at the couple's interactions, but went back to being serious when the conversation was brought back to the bombings. "Clurman was the only victim who didn't get at his door. Why...what was different about this one?"

* * *

"Before Clurman passed out, all he told cops at the time was that he saw the package sitting on the stoop outside his kitchen door," Hotch told the team as he stood near Clurman's car.

"Why didn't he take it in?" Elle asked as she examined the car.

Emi nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I mean, I don't know about you guys, but I usually bring my packages into the house."

"A better question is "why didn't it go off until he got to his car?"" Spencer asked, "It's like 50 feet away."

Hotch shrugged. "Joe Reese, one of Clurman's investors, was here before the bomb went off," Hotch told them, "The cops have ruled him out as a suspect, but he said he saw Clurman get in the car with the package."

"Maybe Clurman didn't actually receive the bomb," Emi said, expressing her thoughts aloud. "He could've been on his way to deliver it."

Spencer nodded, understanding where she was coming from. "But he drops it or tilts it, and it goes off by accident," he finished.

"I'd like to talk to Clurman," Gideon stated, "In the meantime, let's get a warrant to search his house."

* * *

Gideon and Spencer went to the hospital to talk to Clurman while Hotch, Elle, and Emi stayed to search Clurman's house. Morgan had decided to stay in D.C. and requested for the bomb fragments to be sent to him. Emi, Hotch, and Elle had gotten an approved warrant and were standing on the porch, waiting for a Detective Morrison. Emi was currently on the phone talking to her boyfriend.

"JJ told me that Clurman got one of his leg's blown off," she told Spencer, "So, he is most likely going to be sedated. If he isn't, I would definitely report the hospital."

She smiled when she heard Spencer chuckle from the other side. This was her first case as an official FBI agent, and nervous wasn't even close to how she felt. Usually when she was nervous, Spencer would next to her, calming her down, but he wasn't right now so his voice would have to do.

 _"I will keep that in mind,"_ Spencer said, _"Emi, be careful, okay?"_

Emi snorted, "Have you met me? I trip over nothing."

 _"Or you could be tripping over the dead bodies of the Silence,"_ Spencer joked. Emi had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from laughing about the Doctor Who reference he made.

"The what now? I'm sorry, I forgot what we were talking about," Emi replied, smiling. "But anyways, I can't promise you that I'll be careful, but I can promise you that I'll _try_." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man making his way towards Hotch and Elle. "Oh, I gotta go. I'm gonna assume the detective just arrived. Love you."

 _"Love you, too,"_ was Spencer's reply before Emi was forced to end the call.

"Detective Morrison, Palm Beach P.D.," she heard the man say to Hotch as she approached them. "I'm lead on the case."

"Nice to meet you," Hotch said, shaking the man's hand. "This is Agent Greenaway," they shook hands. "And this is Agent Hinata." Emi shook the man's hand as well.

"Agents Reid and Gideon are at the hospital," Hotch continued, "I think you met Agent Jareau at the station house."

"Oh, yeah, she's taken over the place," the detective said, making Emi giggle.

Elle nodded in agreement. "She does that."

"ATF hasn't found any hard evidence yet," Hotch told the detective, "just some kitchen timers, tape recorders, and electrical switches."

"Yeah. It is amazing how many household items count as potential bomb-making materials," Morrison said as they went into the house.

"Hello?" they all turned to see a woman enter the house, looking disgruntled. "Excuse me!"

"Mrs. Clurman," the detective whispered to the agents.

"What's going on here?" Mrs. Clurman demanded, marching up to the agents.

Hotch took out his credentials to show the woman. "Mrs. Clurman, my name is Special Agent Aaron Hotchner with the FBI."

"What are you doing in my house?" she asked.

Emi took out a copy of the warrant from her messenger bag. "Here's a copy of the warrant, Mrs. Clurman."

Hotch nodded at her, appreciatively. "I know that this is hard to believe, but we need to cover all of our bases," he told Mrs. Clurman, "We need to make sure that your husband was not involved in any way."

"Involved?" the woman repeated, insulted. "My husband's in the hospital with his leg blown off. What are you talking about?!"

"Mrs. Clurman, I understand that your having a hard time, but please understand that we have to do this," Emi said, gently. "We are not saying that your husband was the one who set off the bomb, but we need to look into the possibility that he may have done something to-uh, how do I say this-uh, trigger the bomber into doing something like this."

"There are some questions that your husband needs to answer and the sooner that we talk to him and clear him, then the sooner we find whoever's responsible," Elle added.

"Agent Hotchner?" an ATF said, a grim look on his face. "We've got something."

* * *

They gathered around a small tool box in the Clurman's garage. The ATF that had called them before, lifted the top layer to reveal mercury switches, a few other tools, and a copy of _An Anarchist's Companion_ guide.

"We found this buried on the back of that shelf," he told them. Mrs. Clurman walked over to see what they were looking at.

"Mrs. Clurman..." Hotch started, getting up from his crouch, "do you know anything about this?"

* * *

Emi was leaning against the kitchen counter, trying to organize the case information in her head, when her cell phone rang. She quickly answered. "Yello'," she greeted.

 _"Hey, Emi,"_ Spencer said, _"I'm handing the phone over to Gideon."_

"Alright," she said as she waved Hotch over.

 _"This isn't our guy,"_ Gideon said, _"His answers were coherent even while he was sedated. He's got a sense of humor, displays empathy..."_

 _"Not to mention he has a hobby unrelated to bomb-making,"_ Spencer added.

 _"This is nothing like a typical bomber profile,"_ Gideon told them.

"What about the materials we found?" Hotch asked.

 _"Well, we'll see if the fragments match the bomb scene, but I doubt they will,"_ Gideon said.

"Okey-dokey," Emi said, "Thanks, Gideon. Bye, Spencer." Just as she ended the call, Elle walked over to them, a framed picture in her hand.

"Look at this," she told them, showing them the picture. "This is their nephew in Texas. And according to Mrs. Clurman, he was staying with them for a month and left last week."

"Mercury switches are a little sophisticated for a 12-year-old kid," Hotch pointed out.

"I'm not saying he's the unsub," Elle said, "but boys his age like to blow stuff up."

"Emi, can you-" Hotch started to say, but Emi already opened her phone, ready to dial.

"Call Morrison? Got it," Emi guessed. "I'll have him contact local P.D. in Texas, pick up the kid, and talk to him."

Hotch nodded and Emi detected a small hint of a smile. "Thanks."

* * *

The team, par Morgan and Garcia and including Morrison, had regrouped and were now in an office in the police station.

"Morgan e-mailed these over," Hotch told them as he pulled up four pictures of the assembled bombs up onto the laptop. "The three on the left are the bombs from yesterday, the one on the right's from the evidence room at Quantico."

"They're all identical," Spencer muttered, looking at the pictures. "They are made with steel reinforcement rods."

"Adrian Bale," Gideon said.

"Who?" Morrison asked.

"He, uh, held our agents in a standoff in Boston last year," Hotch explained, "He took out 6 agents and a hostage with one of his bombs."

"So you're thinking he's behind this?" Elle asked as Gideon made his way over to a table.

"Possibly, but he's in prison," Spencer reminded them. Emi silently walked over to Gideon and handed him a water bottle she had taken out from her messenger bag. Gideon gave her a small, appreciative smile as he took it from her.

"Doesn't he have something like a cult or something?" Emi questioned, "Like...um...what's his name..."

"Charles Manson?" Spencer offered.

Emi nodded, "Yeah, that guy. So, he might be a copycat."

"There's one way to find out," the detective said, "Let's put the screws to this guy."

"No, no, no-Bale's too smart," Gideon said as he finished drinking from the water bottle. "If we information from him, we have to handle him carefully. Even then, you have to assume that road will lead nowhere."

"You're saying the connection to Bale doesn't help us at all?" the detective asked.

Gideon shook his head, "No. I'm just saying let _us_ handle Bale."

"Look, we just heard from local Texas P.D.," Morrison told them, shaking his head as well. "You were right about Clurman's nephew. He admitted the bomb stuff was his, which is great for the Clurmans, but it leaves us with zero suspects. So what do you suggest my men do now?"

"Proceed form the profile," Gideon told him, making the detective's eyes grow wider.

"I didn't know we had a profile," the man said, making Emi snort.

When everyone turned to look at her, Emi felt her face heat up. "Sorry," she apologized before turning to the detective, "But trust me, sir. They have been creating a profile the moment they got word of the case."

* * *

They were now all in the main portion of the police station, all of the police gathered in front of them, waiting to hear the profile.

"We're dealing with a bomber," Gideon told them. "We're talking about someone who's non-confrontational. If you bumped into him in a cafe, he'd apologize, even if it wasn't his fault."

"We would classify this bomber highly organized, based on the meticulous design of his bombs," Hotch continued, "It means above average intelligence. He probably has a skilled job, a trade, one that allows him to work alone. That's how he was able to make a sophisticated device without raising suspicion. Furniture maker, jeweler, et ceterea."

"Background in explosive?" the detective asked.

"No, not necessarily," Gideon denied, "You're think about a type who likes to blow things up. Gives them an emotional or sexual release. That's secondary."

"Then what's this guy doing?" an officer asked.

"Murdering," came Gideon's blunt answer. "Bombs-just weapons, and these attacks, they are not random."

"Well, how do you know that?" another officer asked.

"The process of elimination," Hotch explained, "We know bombers fall into a discreet number of categories according to motive. There's the terrorist whose aim is to spread fear, we'd expect him to strike in a populous area like a subway. There's the politically motivated bomber. He makes a statement by choosing a symbolic target like an abortion clinic-then there's our unsub.

"He made bombs designed to kill, and he chose his victims specifically by placing the bombs at their stoops. That tells us he has a direct motive. Statistically he bombs for profit or to conceal a crime, and it tells us how we're going to find him-through the people he killed."

"Somewhere among the three victims there is a direct motive," Gideon said, "Keep digging."

"Thanks. Any question, we'll be around," Hotch said, dismissing them.

"You'll be around. I'll be in prison," Gideon said, motioning for Emi and Spencer to follow him as he walked past. "Somebody's got to talk to Bale."

* * *

 **U.S. Penitentiary**

 **Atlanta, Georgia**

"You know why I'm here?" Gideon asked the arsonist as he leaned against one of the windows of the interrogation room. Emi tried her best to look calm as she stood next to Gideon, but she still felt herself fidgeting a little. Here in front of her was a man that had blown up 6 people and a hostage without hesitation. He was a little intimidating if she had to be honest.

"This guy in Palm Beach, right?" Bale muttered, avoiding eye-contact with the two agents. "The Palm Beach Bomber-somebody's got to give him a better name."

"He uses your bombs, your designs," Gideon said.

"Well, he should be careful," he said as he glanced over at Emi, licking his lips. "Those things are dangerous."

"Adrian..." Gideon sighed, "you can't fool me. If you're involved in this in any way and you do not help me, I will make your life even worse than it is now."

"Oh, but no, actually," the man said. He turned to face Gideon, but he still avoided making eye-contact. "I can fool you because I fooled you before. And now there's another me out there, watching, waiting."

Gideon let out a breath and took a seat at the table. "You were more ruthless than I expected," he admitted. "If you hadn't pushed that button, you might've had a chance at parole someday."

"Yeah," Bale said, crisply, "You know, I've thought a lot about that day, and there's one thing I still can't understand." He finally turned and made eye-contact with Gideon. "You trusted me, why?"

"I never trusted you," Gideon denied, quickly.

"You listened to me," Bale argued.

"I made an error," Gideon corrected. "I calculated you wouldn't do it, and you did. Whatever you think, I'm gonna walk outta here, and you never will."

Bale adjusted his position so he was directly facing Gideon, interlacing his fingers together. "Here's what I think," he said, "Sending those agents into that warehouse, it just doesn't make sense. I mean, I've read your books. I had all those things-what did you call it? Um...a homicidal triad.

"I even came from a broken family, classic sociopath, so when I had the chance to kill 6 agents plus a hostage..." At this point, Bale looked up and stared at Emi, holding her stare. "I mean, just because I gave myself up doesn't mean that I was finished with those people. I still had the remote-You should've known that."

Emi could feel herself tense up as she and Bale continued to hold eye-contact. She wanted to pull away, but she didn't want to let him get the satisfactory of knowing that she was scared.

"And the emotional release I would feel by pressing that button..." Bale continued. "Well, that was just a little too overwhelming to pass up. Why didn't you search me before sending those agents in? Why didn't you do your job, Agent Gideon?" Satisfied, he turned away from Gideon and smirked at Emi.

* * *

"Bale might be part of this, but he's not in control," Gideon said to Hotch through the phone as he and Emi walked out of the interrogation room. Spencer, who had been waiting for them outside of the interrogation room, joined them as they walked. "If he were, he would've taunted me with specifics."

 _"So what's our next move?"_ Hotch asked.

"I let Bale know the unsub's using his designs," Gideon told him.

 _"Bait."_

"Yeah, exactly," Gideon confirmed, "If Bale wasn't part of it before, he'll sure want to be part of it now."

"I'm gonna stay behind and monitor his mail, calls, visitors, any contact that he has with the outside world," Spencer told them.

"Good. Even if he doesn't know the unsub, he may want to try to contact him," Gideon agreed. "Emi, stay with him."

Emi nodded and waved Gideon good-bye before following Spencer in the opposite direction.

* * *

 _"Office of supreme genius puzzle solver,"_ Garcia said from Spencer's phone. _"Do you have a riddle for me?"_

"I found out Bale has been accessing the internet by getting around a fire wall that's set up on a prison library computer," Spencer told her. "The guy even has an e-mail address."

 _"Wow. Sneaky bastard,"_ Garcia said.

"Yeah. He's headed for the library right now, maybe to contact the unsub," Spencer said. "Is there a way to possibly monitor his keystrokes while he's online?"

"Like maybe a virus," Emi suggested.

 _"Yeah, I can do that,"_ Garcia agreed, _"but he'll have to open the e-mail for it to work."_

"Let's do it," Spencer said.

 _"What do you want in the subject line?"_ Garcia asked.

Spencer suddenly stopped walking, causing Emi to bump into him. "Let's think..."

 _"Something that'll make him open it,"_ Garcia said.

"Yeah... He's impotent," Spencer said, starting to walk again. Emi glared at him for suddenly stopping to only continue walking again, but followed him, nonetheless. "Something that'll make him feel in control."

"Oh! I know!" Emi said, getting an idea, "Have it say something relating to a teenage girl wanting to have sex."

She heard Garcia laugh. _"I like you!"_

Spencer stared at his girlfriend in horror, "What?"

Emi rolled her eyes and nudged him, playfully. "Oh, come on. Almost all heterosexual guys would totally open something like that. You're telling me that if I sent you a sex e-mail, you're not gonna open it?"

Garcia, who was still on the line, let out another loud laugh while Spencer's face turned red. "I-If it's not from y-you, no," Spencer mumbled, avoiding making eye-contact with her.

Emi giggled. "Aww, that's so sweet." She leaned up to give Spencer a peck on the cheek before walking ahead. "It's good to know that I've a got a loyal boyfriend."

* * *

 _"Now this guy's number,"_ Garcia said, _"He's visited 6 porn sites in the past half hour."_

"Gross," Emi muttered. "Anything else?"

 _"Hold on. He's posting to a message board,"_ Garcia told them. _"_ Naughtyhobbies" _Looks like some sort of site for bomb enthusiasts._ "To all my friends out there, beware. They are onto you." _"_

"We need the names of everyone who's been on that message board in the past month," Spencer said.

* * *

"186 e-mails," Emi told Gideon through her cell phone. "We were able to track down the names and some of the addresses through the isps, but none of them were in Palm Beach."

 _"How about occupations?"_ Gideon asked.

"It wasn't a required field," Spencer said. "so really, only about 1/3 filled it in."

 _"Well, the unsub takes pride in his work. He would fill it in,"_ Gideon told them.

"Right. Let's see, we have..." Spencer held up the list for Emi to read off of, "Uh, trucker, physician, antiquities dealer, store owner, orderly-"

 _"Wait,"_ Gideon said, causing Emi to stop. _"Antiquities dealer?"_

"Yeah," Emi confirmed, "Why, what is it?"

* * *

Emi quickly dialed Hotch's number after Gideon explained his thoughts.

 _"Hey, Emi,"_ Hotch said.

"Hotch, I think we found a name," Emi told her.

 _"Okay, shoot."_

"David Walker," Emi told him, "He's an antiquities dealer."

 _"David..."_ Hotch repeated. The sound of pen writing on paper could be faintly heard in the background. _"Walk..."_ Emi frowned at the sudden silence and exchanged confused looks with Spencer. _"I got to call you back,"_ Hotch suddenly said, before ending the call.

Emi slowly lowered the phone from her ear, and looked at Spencer. "I think they may have found him."

* * *

About 30 minutes later, Emi's phone rang.

"Emi Hinata," Emi said as soon as she answered the call.

 _"Emi, are you and Spencer still at the penitentiary?"_ Gideon asked.

"Uh, we were actually just about to leave," Emi admitted, placing a hand on Spencer's arm to stop him. "Why?"

 _"David Walker put a bomb on another person,"_ Gideon explained. _"But he blew himself up so he couldn't get arrested."_

Emi gasped, placing a hand over her mouth in horror. "Oh my god..."

 _"Bale is the only other person I know knows how to defuse the bomb,"_ Gideon said, _"We need you and Spencer to go with the officers who are going to bring him here."_

"Alright," Emi said. "We'll see you there."

* * *

After the 30 minute flight from Georgia to Florida, Bale was now in one of the conference rooms in the Palm Beach police station. Inside with him was Gideon, Hotch, and Bale's lawyer. Emi made sure to stick close to Spencer as they watch from the window. The flight had been very awkward. Throughout the entire flight, Bale wouldn't stop giving Emi lecherous stares, and it gave her the creeps. She tried her best to ignore him, but she could still feel the stares.

"We'll start with a transfer," Gideon said to Bale as he-Gideon-paced around. "You're in a high security facility now, we can get you medium.

"No," Bale refused, holding his head in his hands. "I want out of prison. A mental facility."

"You're asking for something we wouldn't give a bank robber," Hotch said. "There are minimum security prisons-"

"I don't care," Bale interrupted, "I want to be able to talk to people who aren't prisoners. I want to have access to people, things, the world. I want to connect again." At those words, Bale glanced at Emi, who glared back at him.

Gideon looked down, contemplating, before sighing. "All right."

"One more thing-without which there is no deal," the ex-bomber added.

"What is it?" Gideon asked.

"I want you to confess," Bale said, making Gideon stop his pacing. "I want you to admit that I beat you in Boston and I outsmarted you. I want you to apologize to the families of those 6 victims you got killed and I want it all in writing."

"That's enough," Hotch ordered, but Gideon placed his hands on the table.

"If I do this, you'll tell me how to defuse the bomb?" He asked, and the prisoner nodded.

"Only if you do this."

"How do I know you won't lie to me?" Gideon questioned.

"It's all in the writing, Agent Gideon," Bale's lawyer said. "If my client refuses to give you the information, or if he gives you information he knows to be untruthful, the deal is void."

Sighing, Gideon sat down at the table, and Emi walked into the room, giving the man a paper and pen. She could feel Bale's stare on her as soon as she entered the room and it made her uncomfortable. Noticing, Hotch moved to walk her out of the room, making sure to block her from Bale's view. Giving Hotch a smile of thanks, she quickly walked over to Spencer, who instantly wrapped an arm around her waist.

Once Gideon finished writing, he placed the pen down and passed the paper over to Bale.

"I wanna hear it," Bale ordered.

"It was a hostage situation-" Gideon started to read.

"No," Bale interrupted, "Don't read it, say it." Gideon sighed and once again, passed the paper over to Bale.

"It was a hostage situation, I negotiated with Bale," he said, "He agreed to give himself up. He came out of the warehouse peacefully. I gave the OK to send 6 of my agents in, and they never came out. It was a mistake-it was my mistake." Emi winced when she heard the pain in Gideon's voice. She felt Spencer's arm tighten around her waist, and she laid her head back against his shoulder.

"I was-uh, I was outfoxed by Mr. Bale." Gideon said, lifting his head to make eye-contact with the man in front of him. "By you-I sincerely regret having made the decision to send those agents in that day, and I sincerely regret and apologize to the families of all those who died that day."

"4 more minutes," Hotch stated.

* * *

"Okay. I've isolated the wires connected to the actual device," Dan Tracy, the man who was going to defuse the bomb, said from inside the cage. We've got one shot at this, it's either the blue wire or the red wire."

Gideon looked at the prisoner next to him. "Which do we cut, Bale?" he said, "Red or blue?"

Bale inhaled deeply. "Red." Emi bit her lip. She didn't trust him. Back in the prison, he said something about how the emotional release of pressing the button was something he couldn't pass up on.

"You know if you're lying, this thing goes boom, you get nothing, right?" Gideon reminded.

"Yes."

"If we cut the red, it's over," Gideon continued, making the prisoner turn to look at him. "You get to spend your time in a cushy asylum, bushes, trees, visits, nurses, and we get this man out of here alive."

"I don't see how I could be any clearer," the man replied.

"17 seconds."

"Red wire, right?" Gideon asked.

"Yes."

"Cut the blue," Emi said quickly, and everyone turned to look at the girl in surprise.

"Are you sure?" Gideon asked and Hotch's eyes grew wide.

"Gideon," Hotch stated when he realized that the man was going to listen to what girl said. The girl that had only joined the BAU less than 24 hours ago.

"Definitely," Emi confirmed, "Cut the blue."

"Gideon, you can't-" Hotch started to say, but Emi was quick to cut him off.

"Please, Hotch," she pleaded, "Trust me."

Hotch closed his mouth and didn't say anything. Gideon took this as his cue and spoke into the walkie-talkie. "Cut the blue."

Just as the timer hit 3 seconds left, Tracy cut the blue wire, defusing the bomb. "All right," he said, letting out a shaky breath. "Shouldn't take long to cut this thing off, now."

Furious, two police officers grabbed Bale and shoved him out of the conference room.

"Thank you," the victim said in a shaky voice, and Emi couldn't help but smile softly.

"How'd you know," Hotch asked her.

 _"And the emotional release I would feel by pressing that button...well, that was just a little too...overwhelming to pass up."_

"He told me," Emi said, "Well-uh, actually he told Gideon. He said if given the choice to press the button, there was no way he could refuse. All I did was take his word for it."


	3. 1-04 - Plain Sight

"Make a wish!" Emi cheered as she sat on the end of the desk of the now 24-year-old Spencer Reid. In front of him was a rectangular cake covered with chocolate frosting and decorated with blue and yellow icing. _'Happy Birthday, Reid'_ was written with yellow icing on one corner, and 24 lit candles were placed on the corner diagonal. The girl giggled as she watched her boyfriend continue to blow the candles that refused to go out.

"Come on, man!" Morgan urged.

"I thought you were full of hot air, Reid," Elle teased.

"Come on, Reid," Morgan laughed as Spencer still continued to attempt to blow out the candles. "How are you suppose give Emi a good time in bed if you can't blow out these candles?"

At those words, Emi started choking on her coffee.

"They're trick candles, Spencer," JJ told him while patting Emi on the back. "They're gonna come back on every time."

"Oh, mommy to the rescue," Morgan teased, rocking Spencer's birthday-cake-hat back and forth.

"Mommy?" Spencer repeated.

Having finally recovered from Morgan's comment, Emi jumped off of Spencer's desk, and gently pushed Morgan away from Spencer. "Okay, break it up, you two." She then turned back to Spencer and hugged the man from behind.

"Happy birthday, Spence," she whispered into his ear.

"Thanks," Spencer said, turning his head to smile at her.

"Alright, you two, save it for the bedroom," Morgan joked, pulling the hat down over Spencer's eyes. Emi playfully glared at Morgan while Spencer pushed the hat back up.

"Hope you like chocolate," JJ said as she began to cut the cake. Elle and Morgan both reached over Spencer to help JJ cut the cake.

Spencer shrunk into his chair, starting to feel a bit claustrophobic. Seeing that, Emi stepped back, pulling his chair with her. Giving her a smile of thanks, Spencer got up from his chair and let Emi sit instead. When she rolled the chair back over to the cake, Spencer walked over to Gideon who was standing a few desks away.

"You having fun?" Gideon asked.

"Yes, definitely. I'm definitely having fun," Spencer replied, sounding slightly sarcastic.

"Make a wish?" the older agent asked, making Spencer look up at the rim of the hat on his head.

"Can I take this hat off?"

Gideon smirked at the request but shook his head. "I wouldn't."

Spencer let out a small smile before the two turned to look back at the other agents crowding around the cake. Spencer's gaze lingered on his girlfriend, and he softly smiled when he saw her laugh.

"I never really saw my birthday as something important," Spencer commented, "But Emi-heh, she claims that it tied with Halloween for her favorite day."

"You two really love each other," Gideon mused as he watched the expression on Spencer's face.

"Yeah," Spencer agreed. "You know, Emi would always insist on doing something on my birthday. It would never be the same though. Sometimes it was simple, like going a bookstore and eating in a cafe, and other times it would so crazy. On my 21st birthday, we went to Las Vegas and went to like 9 casinos. We got kicked out from every single one cause they thought I was cheating."

"What are you going to do this year?" Gideon asked.

Spencer shrugged, "I told her that I wanted to do the planning this year, but I actually don't know what to do."

"Hey Spence," Emi said, making the two agents turn to look at her. She held out a plate. "First piece is for the birthday boy." Spencer smiled and walked over to the girl, his smile turning into a grin when she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Sorry, guys," Hotch said, making everyone turn to look at him. "the party's over."

* * *

"We're going to San Diego," Hotch said as they entered the conference room.

"Not for the surfing, huh?" Morgan assumed.

"They're calling him the Tommy Killer," JJ said.

"6 women raped and murdered in their homes in the last 3 weeks," Hotch said.

"6 in 3 weeks?" Elle repeated.

"That's a short fuse," Gideon commented.

"And getting shorter," Hotch added, "The first 2 were 8 days apart then the next 2 in 2 weeks."

"Rapid escalation. Do you think he's regressing to a psychopathic frenzy?" Spencer asked.

"No, he's too controlled for that," Hotch said before standing up. "See you on the plane."

"Why the Tommy Killer?" Morgan asked before Hotch left the room.

"You know the rock opera?" Hotch asked, making both Spencer and Emi look up in confusion, "This unsub glues the victims' eyes wide open."

Emi shuddered as she looked down at the picture of the dead victims-their eyes wide open and full of terror.

"He wants them to see him," Spencer mumbled.

Emi let out a shaky breath."And feel him," she added.

* * *

"Brenda Samms was found yesterday by her children when they got home from school," Hotch read as they all sat on the plane. "She had been strangled with a thin ligature, possibly a wire."

"No weapon left the scene," Elle said.

"Residue on the wrist and mouth indicated that duct was used and then removed," Spencer said.

"Also not found at the scene," Hotch added.

"Brought it with him, took it with him," Elle said.

"He also started leaving messages at the fourth scene," Hotch told them, showing the picture to Elle. "This was on the mirrors.

" _Fair lady, throw those costly robes aside. No longer may you glory in your pride. Take leave of all your carnal, vain delight-"_

"I've come to summon you away this night," Spencer finished. "It's a ballad from the late 1600s."

"A dialogue between Death and a lady, right?" Emi asked, "She was begging Death to let her live and whatnot."

"Yeah," Spencer confirmed.

"What kind of person knows this ballad?" Elle asked. "Are we looking for a literature professor?"

"Anyone with an internet connection, actually," Spencer told her. "You should see what comes in when you type the word " _death_ " into a search engine."

"Reid, no wonder you can't get a date," Morgan laughed.

"Uh, ouch," Emi said, lightly hitting Morgan's arm, "His girlfriend is _right here_ , you know."

"Reid, you stay on the messages. See if there's a deeper meaning," Gideon ordered.

"It definitely looks like he ransacked the crime scene pretty well," Morgan said, holding up the picture to show everyone.

"A lot of damage, nothing taken," Hotch said.

"The eyes are the thing, the signature," Gideon said, "The behavior that isn't necessary for the murder, but necessary for the emotional release. That's what he's there for."

"There used to be a widely held belief that the eyes record a snapshot of the last thing a person sees before they die," Spencer spouted.

"Yeah, that's right. People used to write poems about talking to death," Morgan said.

"Ballads," Spencer corrected.

Morgan rolled his eyes, "Whatever."

"You think they'll ever run out of new things to do with their victims?" Elle asked.

"Well, finding new ways to hurt each other is what we're good at," Gideon told her.

* * *

"Hey." Emi looked up from the case pictures to see Hotch standing over her.

"Are you going to be okay for this case?" the unit chief asked

Emi smiled at him softly. "I think I can handle it."

"Are you sure?" he pressed, "I'm aware of how close to home this case is for you."

"It's not that close," Emi said, "It's only similar in one way, and that was years ago."

"If you feel that you need a break, don't be afraid to ask," Hotch told her.

Emi nodded. "Okay. Thanks, Hotch."

Satisfied with her answer, Hotch went back to his seat, and Spencer gave her hand a small squeeze. Elle looked over at them with confused looks.

"What was that about?" Elle asked.

"It's nothing," Emi said, unconvincingly.

Elle gave her a look. "You're talking to profilers, Emi. We can tell that you're lying."

Emi let out a weak chuckle. "It was worth a try. But seriously, though, it's not a big deal. Like I told Hotch, it happened years ago. I'm over it, now."

Elle nodded, still not convinced, but decided not to press any further. "Alright. Just know that I'm here if you need anyone to talk to."

Emi gave her a small smile. "Thanks."

* * *

 **Task Force Headquarters**

 **San Diego Police Department**

The team walked into the station and went their separate ways, not paying attention to the others in the station. Hotch, JJ, and Emi were the only ones that acknowledged the other officers.

A man attempted to greet Elle, but she simply walked past him.

"Sorry, they tend to get tunnel vision when we're on a case," Emi apologized for Elle. She shook the man's hand. "I'm Special Agent Emi Hinata. This is my unit chief, Special Agent Hotchner, and our communications liaison, Agent Jareau."

"Captain Griffith, task force commander," the man introduced, also shaking Hotch's and JJ's hand. "I appreciate you coming out."

"Thanks, hope we can help," Hotch said.

* * *

"My name is death. Have you not heard of me? You may as well be mute..." Emi heard Spencer read aloud as she and JJ approached him.

"Creepy, huh?" JJ said.

"Actually, conversations between death and his victims was a fairly popular literary and artistic theme throughout the Renaissance," Spencer said. Emi couldn't help but giggle when JJ gave Spencer a look.

"Yeah, creepy," Spencer agreed.

* * *

"It looks like what he's written at the scenes are most of the first three verses of the same ballad," Spencer said to Hotch and Elle, Emi following closely behind.

"Most of?" Hotch repeated.

"It's only one part of the conversation. There's no ' _betwixt_ '," Spencer explains. He got blank stares from Hotch and Elle.

"He means that it's only death speaking. The lady never responds," Emi clarifies.

"Maybe he feels like their bodies are answer enough," Elle suggested.

* * *

"Emi!" Emi turned her attention away from the case board and to Hotch. "There may have been another attempt six blocks from here. You and Elle come with me, now."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

"Lucky woman," Hotch said to Emi and Elle as they walked into the kitchen.

"You know what, she's probably not feeling so lucky right about now," Elle commented.

"Of course not. Whether you are raped or almost raped, it's still a scary experience that will haunt you forever," Emi said, earning a concerned look from Elle.

"You're absolutely sure about that, Mr. Gordon?" they overheard the captain ask.

"He was black and 6 feet tall," the man being questioned said. "I watched him run out that back door."

"Get a description out in the field A.S.A.P.," Griffith ordered before walking over to the 3 agents.

"Interracial serial sex crimes are rare," Hotch told him.

"Are they impossible?" Griffith asked.

"No."

"Then what's your point?" the captain asked.

"Only to provide you with information," Hotch said. Meanwhile, Emi was observing the victim, watching as the woman's eyes darted around the room, looking at the males with uncertainty.

"I'm gonna go talk to her," Emi said.

"May I ask why?" Griffith asked.

"She's surrounded by men," was her answer. Emi made her way towards the woman, gesturing for Elle to come with her.

"Mrs. Gordon?" Emi called, getting everyone's attention. "Hi, my name's Emi, and this is my friend, Elle."

"Would you like to go outside?" Elle asked.

"It's all right," Emi reassured her when the woman hesitated. "We're just gonna go some place quiet. Maybe the backyard or something like that."

* * *

"I really don't know that much about him," Mrs. Gordon said as the three women sat outside.

"Well, you don't have to," Elle said. "Just take a little time to collect your thoughts, to just sit here, breathe."

"You don't want to ask me questions?" the woman asked.

"Not until you're ready," Emi reassured her.

"We'll be right behind that doorway," Elle said, getting up, Emi following her example.

"Do you want me to get you a drink?" Emi offered, "Maybe some tea-it might help you calm down."

"No," Mrs. Gordon declined. Emi nodded and she and Elle started walking to the door.

"I didn't know that he was in the house," Mrs. Gordon suddenly said, making Emi and Elle stop in their tracks. "Is that common?"

Emi and Elle sat back down into their seats in front of the woman.

"Very."

* * *

"He slapped me from behind, he pulled me down on the floor," Mrs. Gordon said, telling them what happened. "I tried to scratch him and bite him, but he was so strong. And then my husband came home from work. He screamed, and the man ran out the door."

"He was a black man," Elle tried to clarify.

The woman shook her head, "Bill was sure of it, but I...I only remember his eyes. When we were fighting, I kept staring him right in the eyes. I remember thinking, "if he's gonna kill me then he's gonna have to look at me while he does." And he just kept staring back at me through the ski mask."

"A ski mask," Emi repeated.

"Yeah." at this point, the woman started sobbing and Emi got out of her seat to pull the woman into a hug.

"It's okay. You did a great job," Emi comforted, helping the woman calm down.

* * *

Emi, Elle, and Hotch entered the station and rushed over to their team to tell them their newfound information.

"Yeah, the police didn't realize what was happening, he writes his verse, and-"

"-and everyone knows that he was there."

"The offender in this new attempt is a black male," Hotch told them.

"Black male?" Morgan repeated, "That's cross-racial. That doesn't happen."

"Bzzt! Wrong," Emi shouted, "It's just really rare. There was that one guy, Herbert Mullin. He-" she pointed at Spencer to finish her thought.

"He killed 14 different people of completely varying ages, races, and creeds," he finished.

"But there was no sexual component to his crimes," Elle reminded them.

"Dammit, and for a second there, I felt super smart," Emi cursed before remembering something, "Oh yeah, did the attacker wear a ski mask?"

"Yeah," Elle confirmed, "This attacker wore a ski mask."

"Tell 'em we're ready," Gideon said, not looking at the team.

"For a profile?" Morgan asked.

Gideon nodded. "We're gonna make Tommy contact us."

* * *

"The unsub brought the weapons with him-tape, glue, wire," Gideon said to the officers in front of him. "He did not leave them at the scene. He took them when he left. He has a kind of killing kit that he carries."

"Organized killers usually have a skilled job, likely technology related which may involve the use of the hands," Hotch continued, "The crime scenes are far enough apart that he needs a vehicle. This will be well kept, obsessively clean, as will be his home. He's diurnal, the attacks occurred during the day so the vehicle may be related to his work, possibly a company car or truck."

"We believe he watches the victims for a time, learns the rhythms of the home, knows his time frame," Morgan added.

"You're not gonna catch him accidentally," Hotch told the officers.

"He destroys symbols of wealth in the victim's homes," Gideon explained, "He harbors envy of and hatred toward people of a high social class. He feels invisible around them."

"Uh-Class is the theme of the poem which he left at the-uh, various crime scenes," Spencer said, stumbling a bit over his explanation. "A-At one point in the poem, the women attempts to bribe death but he doesn't accept it. He says this is the one moment when riches mean nothing-when death comes, the poor and the rich are exactly alike."

"So he's poor?" Griffith guessed.

"Eh, not really," Emi said, shaking her head. "I would say more middle-class. A person that matches America's "lower-class" would stick out in a high-class neighborhood that's highly patrolled. He looks like he belongs there. He may be a technician or something that would fit middle class but look like he needs to be there."

"Why does he glue the eyes open?" Lead Detective Cornelius Martin asked.

"The unsub is an exploitative rapist," Elle, who had entered the room a few minutes ago, explained as she made her way to the front, "Most rape victims will close their eyes during the attack, turn their heads. For some rapists, this ruins the fantasy. For this type of rapist, the goal is more related to the victim watching him than the act itself."

"The verses, the staging, the aggressive language, "I am death," this is a guy who, while being in control of the crime scene, almost certainly feels inadequate in the rest of his life," Hotch explained.

Gideon nodded and stood up. "That's why he couldn't wait for you to figure out what he'd done. Why he needed to make sure all his crimes were counted. His victims, they represent whatever it is that's controlling him and he wants that control back. He is under the thumb of a powerful woman who frightens him. And a final point. He is white."

"We have witnesses that identify him as a black male," Griffith argued.

"You have witnesses that identify the attacker of _Mrs. Gordon_ as a black male," Emi corrected, "That man is _not_ the Tommy Killer."

"Mrs. Gordon's husband came home at the same time that he always does," Hotch told Griffith, "The Tommy Killer would've known that."

"And Mrs. Gordon's attacker wore a ski mask," Elle added, "The unsub knows when he walks into a house he's going to kill the woman who lives there. If you're not leaving any witnesses why wear a ski mask?"

"And he wants the victim to see him, anyway," Morgan said.

"Your attempted rapist is a garden variety disorganized young man," Hotch said."

"as the victim's age goes up, generally the attacker's age goes down," Elle explained, "Mrs. Gordon is about 60, which puts her rapist at about 20."

"and it takes years to develop the level of calm and sophistication that Tommy displays at a crime scene," Gideon said. "The rapist is far too young for that."

"Mrs. Gordon told me that there's a young man who delivers groceries to their home," Elle told the lead detective. "He fits a lot of what we're describing here."

"Great. So we're back to zero on Tommy," the captain said, standing up.

"Not at all," Hotch denied, "May I see you in your office for a moment?"

* * *

"This is some way to spend your birthday," Morgan said to Spencer as the officers dispersed. Emi had gone over to Elle and Gideon and was now having a conversation with them.

"It's not ideal, but it's not the worst that could happen," Spencer said with a shrug.

"So, do you and the Mrs. have anything planned?" Morgan asked, smirking.

"First of all, Emi isn't "the Mrs." We're not married," Spencer corrected, causing Morgan to shake his head. "Secondly, I'm actually not sure. She usually has something that we do, but this year I told her I wanted to do the planning."

"And let me guess, you have no idea what to do," Morgan guessed.

Spencer shook his head, "Not a clue."

"And I suppose, just going at it in the bedroom isn't good enough?" Morgan joked.

Spencer blushed and glanced at Emi, causing his face to go even redder. "N-No," Spencer stuttered, "Emi's not the kind of person to want that."

Morgan raised his eyebrows, "So you're telling me that you guys haven't done it, yet?"

Spencer's eyes grew wide, and he turned away, avoiding eye-contact with Morgan. "W-we have..."

Morgan laughed and patted Spencer's back, "My man."

* * *

"God, I hate waiting like this," Elle muttered to Emi as they both sat at a desk, staring at the phone. Spencer was also sitting with them, playing with a Rubik's Cube.

"You and me both," Emi mumbled as she fiddled with the scrunchie that was once in her hair.

Earlier that night, Morgan and Elle had found Mrs. Gordon's attacker and arrested him. JJ had told the news reporters that he was connected to the investigation, and now they were all waiting for the unsub to get enraged and contact them.

"Do you think it's weird that I knew that ballad?" Spencer randomly asked them.

Emi gave him a confused look while Elle let out a small laugh.

"I don't know how it is that you know half the things you know, but I'm glad you do," Elle told him.

"What about you?" Spencer asked Emi.

"Is this about what Morgan said on the plane?" Emi asked, waiting for an answer. When Spencer gave her a small nod, Emi sighed, "Spencer, don't let what Morgan said bother you. You know he loves to tease you."

"But is it weird?" Spencer asked again, "Is it weird that I know stuff like this?"

"Of course it's weird," Emi answered, grabbing Spencer's hands, " _You're_ weird! But that's why I love you, and that's why you love me. We're both weird, and we shouldn't let people change that about us."

Elle couldn't help but smile as she watched Spencer and Emi smile at each other. When she noticed a look of admiration and adoration in Spencer's eyes, Elle internally sighed to herself. They were adorable, and Elle could only hope that she will one day find someone who will look at her like that.

Their adorable moment was sadly cut off by Detective Martin suddenly getting up from his chair, waving his hands wildly.

"Line 6, Penelope," JJ said to the woman before saying loudly for Emi, Elle, and Spencer to hear, "Line 6."

Emi quickly connected the phone on their desk to line 6. She put the phone on speaker for everyone to hear just as Gideon and Hotch rushed over.

 _"You stupid, incompetent sons of bitches!"_ came the unsub's shouts, _"I don't make mistakes. I am death! You hear me?! I am death! You'll see now-Tomorrow, mark my words, you will see and while I'm taking her, I'm gonna be thinking of you."_

"Anything?" JJ asked Garcia after the man hang up. After a few seconds, she turned to the rest of the team, her eyes wide. "She said she got nothing."

"Nothing?" Morgan repeated.

"We missed him?" Hotch questioned in disbelief. Emi groaned and buried her face into Spencer's shoulder.

* * *

"We have an undercover car for each of your teams and the entire damn department out there, too," Griffith said as he walked over to the gathered agents.

"Remember, a truck," Gideon reminded him. "Maybe a work truck in excellent condition."

The man nodded, "Everyone knows."

"All right, he might make a mistake today," Hotch said, "He's angry, and he probably hasn't done the kind of surveillance he'd like."

"Yeah, well, neither have we," Morgan said, giving Spencer a pat on the back, "Let's go, Reid."

"I'll bring the car around," Elle said, causing Gideon to hand her the keys.

"Emi, walk around and try your best to fit in," Hotch instructed.

"Yes sir," the girl saluted before walking out of the station.

* * *

Emi stumbled once again as she lost her balance. To entertain herself a little, Emi decided to try to balance on the edge of the sidewalk. She was currently in front of the house of the fourth victim. Gideon and Elle were a couple houses away.

Unfortunately, unlike the other times where she managed to regain her balance, Emi couldn't catch herself and fell onto the pavement on all fours. She hissed quietly when she felt her knees and palms get skinned. She sat back on the sidewalk as she stared at her skinned palms, thinking back to a memory she had tried her hardest to bury.

 _"Get on your knees."_

 _11-year-old Emi could only manage to shake her head as she stared at the man in front of her. The man that she had trusted her entire life, to only turn out to be a perverted monster._

 _"I said, "get on your knees"," the man growled as he walked behind her. He grabbed her hair and pushed her onto the floor._

 _The little girl couldn't help but let out a small cry as she fell to the ground, skinning her palms and knees in the process._

 _"Oh, don't be such a big baby," he snapped, "Now, be a good girl and be quiet. Your mommy is in the other room, sleeping, and we don't want to wake her up."_

 _Tears streamed down the small child's eyes as she laid on the floor, unable to do anything to stop the man from continuing on with his actions._

 _"Don't look over there," the man said, gently turning Emi's head to face the open doorway. "Stare at my room. I want you to remember where I'll be after."_

Emi snapped out of her memories when she remembered those last words.

"Where he'll be after," Emi mumbled to herself as she stared at the victim's house in front of her. Instinctively, she got to her feet, ignoring the stings of pain, and made her way into the house. She walked over to the bedroom where the victim's body was found and stared at the bed.

"The closing of eyes sometimes ruins the fantasy," Emi said aloud to herself. "But why bother gluing the eyes open if you're not gonna make them look at you."

Without thinking, Emi got onto the bed, forgetting about her bleeding knees and palms, and laid in the same position that the victim had been in. As she laid there, her eyes fell to the window and to the telephone lines that were directly in her line of sight. Realizing the answer, Emi sat back onto the bed just as Gideon and Elle entered the room. She stared at the two as she voiced her realization.

"He wanted to them to see him afterward."

* * *

 _"Office of unfettered omniscience,"_ Garcia said from Emi's phone. _"Penelope Garcia is in. Speak, oh fortunate one."_

"Hi, Garcia," Emi said as she, Gideon, and Elle walked out of the room and towards the stairs.

 _"Oh, hello, Emi!"_ Garcia said, cheerfully. _"How's our sweet, little cinnamon roll, today?"_

Emi smiled, instantly feeling better. Talking to Garcia always somehow managed to cheer her up, no matter how bad the situation was. "I've been better. Anyways, could you get into the phone repair records in San Diego for me?"

 _"Oh, but of course!"_ The sounds of typing keyboards could be heard. _"Anything for my adorable, little panda bear. Who're you looking for?"_

"Uh, a repairmen cross-referenced with the murders in San Diego?" Emi requested, looking at Gideon and Elle for confirmation. After receiving nods from them, Emi turned back to the phone with a little more confidence. "Yeah-um, it could be four or five days prior? Can you see if you find any common names?"

 _"Total cake. Stay one line._ "

* * *

"He's a phone technician, Hotch," Gideon said into his phone as the group exited the house. "Police are looking for someone walking around the neighborhood in broad daylight. Who notices a phone guy up on a pole?"

 _"He can watch for husbands leaving for work, watch for police patrols, know when the neighborhood's quiet,"_ Hotch mumbled.

"He knows when he'll have plenty of time," Gideon said as they crossed the street. "He can even tap into a phone line to make sure someone's home. How about routing a call through 25 substations? Backyard? Hey, he's just looking for a pole. Got tape? Course he does. Wire? He's a repairman."

 _"Sounds right, Jason_."

"It is right, and we have his name," Gideon said, motioning for Emi to get into the back seat.

 _"Hey, Gideon? Good work,"_ Hotch complimented.

"Oh, it wasn't me," Gideon denied, looking into his car. In the back seat sat Emi, who was currently getting her skinned palms treated by Elle. "This was all Emi."

* * *

When Emi's phone rang, she was quick to answer it. "Emi here."

 _"Frank Graney is on service calls in the area of Orange and Chandler_ ," Spencer told her.

"Thanks, Spence," Emi thanked, ending the call before repeating the information to Gideon and Elle.

"Get a hold of Hotch and tell him to bring the team and any S.D. Cops he can round up," Gideon ordered, making a sharp U-turn.

* * *

They quickly found a company truck and Gideon hastily parked in front of it.

"This is his truck," Gideon said as Hotch drove up to them. "Fan out. Go through yards, look at the telephone poles. He's around here-Emi, stay with me."

Emi and Gideon walked around the area until they found a backyard with the gate left open. Hearing the sounds a crying child, Emi moved to run in, but Gideon quickly held her back, shaking his head to tell her that it would be a bad idea.

Gideon slowly walked into the backyard and gestured Emi to follow him. Together, they walked through the backyard and into the house. When he saw the tool belt on the table, Gideon quickly pulled out his gun. Emi, on the other hand, went straight for the crying child.

"Let me out," the boy cried, "let me out!"

"Shh, it's okay," Emi whispered, moving the high-chair's tray away. After quietly placing it on the counter, she unbuckled the seat belt and picked up the boy, placing him on her hip. "We're gonna save your momma."

Meanwhile, Gideon had pulled out his phone. "875 Orange, Hotch. Back door."

"You want me to come?" Emi asked, rocking the child.

"No, take care of the boy," Gideon ordered, "and when the others come, tell them that I'm upstairs."

* * *

It was about 2 or 3 minutes later when Hotch and Elle arrived. By then, Emi managed to calm the boy down and was feeding him some applesauce.

"They're upstairs," she informed them.

They both nodded and pulled out their guns before dashing away.

Hearing more loud footsteps, Emi looked up at the ceiling before looking back at the little boy. "I think it's safe to say that they caught him. What do you think? Wanna go check on Mommy?"

Nodding quickly, the child raised his arms, and Emi picked him up. She carried him to the foot of the stairs just as Hotch brought Franklin Graney to the top.

"This little guy, here, wants to see his Mommy," Emi called out to Hotch, boosting the said child up a bit so he would be in a more comfortable position. "Is it safe for me to bring him up?"

Hotch nodded, "Yeah."

Smiling, Emi turned to the boy on her hip, "You see? Mommy's safe." With that, Emi started walking up the stairs. As she passed Hotch and Granley, Emi made sure to shield the boy away from the criminal. They walked towards the bedroom and heard the cries of the mother.

"My baby! Where's my baby?!"

"He's right here, and he's fine, ma'am," Emi said, walking into the doorway. Seeing her son, the mother started to cry again, causing the child to also start crying.

"Thank you," the mother sobbed, taking the baby out of Emi's arms and into her own. "Thank you, so much."

* * *

"Hey," Emi looked up from her book to see Elle taking a seat next to her on the plane. "How you feelin'? You look a little shaken up."

"Yeah, I am," Emi admitted.

"I know, I shouldn't pry," Elle started, "but does it have something to do with what Hotch said earlier this morning?"

Emi opened her mouth to speak but closed it in hesitation. Letting out a shaky breath, Emi nodded. "Yeah."

"What happened?" Elle asked, "I mean, you don't have to tell me if you're not comfortable, but it might help to tell someone."

"Yeah, I suppose so," Emi agreed. "When I was younger...I...I was sexually assaulted...many times. Um, it was my father, and I was 10."

Elle gasped, covering her mouth. "Oh my God."

Emi chuckled weakly, "I mean...it wasn't...it wasn't my real father-he died when I was 3. It was my step-father that did it. I-It...It happened for over a year, but one day, one of my brothers, Daichi, he came home earlier than expected and saw it. He was horrified. He called the police, and my step-father was soon arrested. He's in jail, now-with a life sentence.

"My mom had actually met Michael, my new step-father, a few years before and went to him for support after my old one was sent to jail. Their close friendship developed into something more, and before you know it, it was a year, they got married, and we moved to Las Vegas," Emi finished, her eyes glancing her boyfriend, who was currently playing chess with Gideon.

"I'm fine, now," Emi reassured Elle after seeing the concerned look on the woman's face. "The incident made me stronger, and if I had to be honest, if that never happened, I'd probably be here-where I am now."

Elle smiled and grabbed the girl's hands. "Well, fine or not fine, you are only human and will have moments where you want to cry about it. Does anyone else know about this?"

Emi shook her head. "Only you, Spencer, and Hotch know."

"Then, if you ever need a girl to talk to, I'll be here," Elle said, making Emi smile.

"Thanks."

* * *

Meanwhile, Spencer and Gideon were concentrated on their chess game.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Gideon said, digging through his bag. "I have something for you."

"Oh, yeah?" Spencer asked, still concentrated on the game.

"Forgot to give it to you at the party," Gideon said, handing him a blue box.

"But you don't give birthday presents," Spencer said. Gideon simply smiled and Spencer opened the box to reveal two tickets. " _Les Misérables_?"

"State box," Gideon explained.

"Thank you so much," Spencer said, smiling.

"Ever seen a Broadway?" Gideon asked, and Spencer shook his head.

"Uh-no. I mean, unless you count the school musicals that Emi were in," Spencer admitted.

"You're gonna love it," Gideon said.

"We are," Spencer corrected, "You're coming with me, right?"

Gideon shook his head. "You said you needed something to do on your birthday with Emi. I remember she told me once that she's always wanted to see _Les Misérables_."

Spencer smiled at the man in front of him and got up from his seat. But before he went over to Emi, he stared at the chess board and moved a piece. "Checkmate." Gideon looked at Spencer in shock before laughing as Spencer walked over to his girlfriend-who was still chatting with Elle.

"Hey, Emi," Spencer said, sitting down next to her. Smirking, Elle sent the girl a look before getting and walking over to JJ.

Emi rolled her eyes at Elle and turned to face Spencer. "Hey, Spence. How was your game?"

"Uh, I actually won," Spencer said, proudly.

"Oh, I'm so proud of you!" Emi said, hugging him.

"Yeah," Spencer agreed, hugging her back. "So, uh-you know how we always do something for my birthday?"

"Yeah, and this year you said you wanted to do the planning," Emi remembered.

"Yes, well, Gideon actually bought us tickets," Spencer said, handing her the tickets, "To a musical called-"

" _Les Misérables_?!" Emi gasped, staring at the tickets. "Oh my god, yes!"

* * *

"That was so beautiful," Emi cried, wiping away some stray tears. "What'd you think?"

"It wasn't exactly accurate to the book," Spencer said, "And there were moments when the singers were off-key."

Emi giggled, slipping her arm through Spencer's. "It's a live musical, Spence, and if the musical was going to be straight from the book, we would be there for at least 10 hours."

"I suppose," Spencer complied.

Emi rolled her eyes and hugged Spencer's arm, "Well, thank you."

Spencer gave her a confused look. "Gideon was the one that got us the tickets."

"Not for that, silly."

"Then for what?"

Emi leaned up and pecked Spencer on the cheek. "For holding back on your comments and criticism. Don't worry, as soon as you get home, you can rant about it all you want. Your welcome."

Spencer rolled his eyes and got onto their motorcycle. "Oh, what would I do without you?"

"You would be empty inside and unable to function," Emi joked, getting on behind Spencer. She grabbed Spencer's helmets and placed it on his head, but doing the same for herself. "Admit it, I'm your life source."

"Right," Spencer said, sarcastically, "And here I thought, you were more of a parasite _sucking out_ my life source."

Emi gasped and lightly smacked his shoulder. Laughing, she then, wrapped her arms securely around his waist. Spencer started the motorcycle, riding into the night and back to their apartment.

"Happy Birthday, Spencer."


	4. 1-05 - Broken Mirror

**If you can, please favorite, follow, and/or leave a review (I love reading them)!**

* * *

 **Review Responses:**

 **ahowell1993: I already wrote Somebody's Watching because I already had an idea for it, and I wanted to write it out before I forgot. I also have an idea for the marriage part, too.**

* * *

"Are you seriously reading that book, again?" Emi looked up from her book to see Elle leaning against her desk.

"It's really good," Emi said, defensively.

" _The Collector_?"

"Yeah, it's my favorite book," Emi said, excitedly. "It's about-"

"Stop right there," Elle said, holding a hand out to stop the girl from ranting. "I love you, but not enough to listen to you rant about a book. I get enough of that from Spencer."

Emi pouted, "You bully."

"I know," Elle laughed, patting Emi on the head. "But, to make this conversation more interesting...how was your date?"

"Date?"

"You know, the one with our resident genius on his birthday," Elle reminded, "Did you get to see him in his birthday suit?"

Emi smiled and turned away, her cheeks blushing. "I don't kiss and tell."

"Oh, but you must," Elle insisted, "Give me all the dirt."

Emi shook her head and opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by JJ walking up to them.

"Are they ready?" Elle asked to which JJ replied with a nod.

"Yep. Can you go tell Hotch for me?" she asked.

"Of course," Elle said, getting up, "Let's go, Emi."

* * *

" _You will follow instructions carefully,_ " Spencer read aloud. On the projection screen was a note that was left in regards to Trish Davenport's kidnapping. " _You will do this to ensure the safety of your daughter. You will wait for the call. You will answer the call at 8:00 P.M. You will write down the instructions and follow them to the letter."_

"That gives us less than 9 hours to get to Connecticut, work up victimology on Trish Davenport, and prepare her father for the ransom drop," Hotch told them.

"How do we know the letters real?" Gideon asked.

"Uh," Hotch pressed a button on the remote in his hand, and a tab popped up, comparing the handwriting. "Handwriting is a match for Trish's," he explained. "He dictated it to her, and they found saline on the paper."

"Her tears," Gideon mumbled.

"He never says " _I_ "," Morgan pointed out, "He never says "I will call"-"

"He always says "You will," Emi finished before adding in a mumbled, "the repetitiveness bothers me to no end."

Morgan's lips twitched up a bit before continuing, "He's distancing himself from the kidnapping. If he said "I", he'd be taking responsibility for it."

"There's also another missing element," Hotch said."

"No mention of the police," Elle realized. "Ransom notes almost always forbid police involvement."

"So is he expecting law enforcement to get involved?" Hotch questioned.

"Well, if he's expecting us, let's not disappoint him," Gideon said.

* * *

"Is everyone familiar with the father?" Hotch asked, turning his head to look at the team sitting behind him on the jet.

"Evan Davenport, U.S. Attorney, executive assistant of the southern district, New York. Widower, assigned U.S. Marshals 3 times in the past 10 years due to death threats," Spencer recited from memory.

"Is the protective detail still current?" Morgan asked.

"Around the clock, but Trish declined protection when she turned 18," Hotch told him.

"Bad choice," Emi muttered and Morgan nodded in agreement.

"Too bad for the boyfriend."

"But why kill him?" Spencer asked.

"Well, if I'm going to kidnap someone I know I have to take out whoever's with them," Morgan said before looking back to the case file on his lap. "Says here she's got a sister."

"Cheryl," Hotch added.

"Any problems? Were they close?" Morgan questioned.

"Definitely," Emi said as Spencer showed Morgan a picture of the sisters. "They're identical twins."

* * *

While Spencer, Hotch, and Gideon went to the Davenport's house, Emi, Morgan, and Elle drove to the crime scene. When they got there, Trish's sister, Cheryl was lying on the ground.

"What's she doing?" Morgan asked a bodyguard as they got out of the car.

"Lying on the road," the male bodyguard said.

"Yeah, I see that. But why?" Morgan asked, walking closer to the girl.

"She's trying to get a feel for what happened to her sister," the female bodyguard answered.

"By lying on the ground?"

"The girl spent her teenage years perfecting ways to ditch her bodyguards," the male said.

"We're just happy she's in our line of sight," the woman agreed.

Meanwhile, Elle and Emi were walking around the girl, examining the crime scene. Morgan gave them a confused and exasperated look as he walked over to them.

"Cheryl Davenport?"

"Shh!" the girl shushed, "Just a minute."

Elle and Morgan exchanged looks, while Emi simply tucked some loose hair behind her ear.

"No, I'm not crazy," the girl said, not once looking at them. "I'm lying here for a reason."

They all stood there for a few more seconds before the girl finally sat up.

"He dragged her from the car," Cheryl said, getting up. She dusted the back of her skirt as she walked forward a bit. She looked down and pointed at the ground. "This is where she fell. Trish is a fighter. She wouldn't have gone quietly, not even with a gun pointed at her."

"She's right," Elle said, showing Morgan and Emi the file in her hand. "There are nail marks on the car seat."

"So you believe your sister's still alive?" Morgan asked.

Cheryl gave Morgan an offended look. "I _know_ she's still alive."

"You know the way twins know," Elle clarified.

Both Emi and Cheryl rolled their eyes.

"Not the "I can feel my twin's pain" crap," Cheryl said, "If you stick her with a needle, I don't cry out. But if something is bothering her, if something is wrong-"

"You can feel it" Emi finished, "Even from 1,000 miles away at college." She nodded in understanding and received pointed questioning looks from Elle and Morgan. "And no, I don't have a twin. My older brothers were twins. It will amaze you how many shitty questions you'll receive when you're related to twins."

Morgan snorted and began to examine the crime scene. Elle turned her attention back to the twin. "You study physics, right?"

"If you're asking why a science major would believe in something non-scientific, I don't," Cheryl said. "I just know what I feel." After earning a nod from Elle, Cheryl turned to face Morgan. "My feeling is that my sister is still alive."

"That's good," Emi said, tying her hair up. "Because I am 99.99% sure that she is, too."

* * *

"What's he doing?" Cheryl asked as she, Emi, and Elle watched Morgan roam around the crime scene.

"He's role-playing," Elle told her.

"How does that work?" came Cheryl's next question.

Emi crossed her arms and leaned against a nearby car. "Well, usually, most role-players would dress up as the character they're playing as, but I suppose we could let this one slide." In a louder voice, she called out to Morgan, "But only because we were called on short notice."

After receiving the finger from Morgan, Emi laughed and turned to face Cheryl and Elle. "Anyways, he's role-playing as the kidnapper. He's thinking like the kidnapper and figuring them out through the behavior."

"Well, that doesn't sound very scientific, does it?" Cheryl said.

Emi scoffed, "It's called Criminology. You learn about a criminal's behavior and try to find out why through the how. It's pretty much the psychology of criminals."

Meanwhile, Morgan stood still, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "Okay. She was rarely without the boyfriend. Well, I know in order to get to her, I got to take him out. He was collateral damage." He looked to the side and frowned. "Or was he?

"Shot was to the face. That's personal." Morgan began to walk around again. "Kill the boyfriend...get him out of the way, so I can get her..." Morgan turned to face Cheryl. "...alone..."

* * *

"So, you think Cheryl's a whack job because she can feel her sister's anxiety?" Elle clarified to Morgan.

"I never said whack job," Morgan protested. Emi gave him a pointed look. "I'm serious!"

After a few more minutes at the crime scene, the three and Cheryl joined the rest of the BAU at the Davenport's house. Emi, Elle, and Morgan were currently standing in the kitchen, talking about Cheryl.

"I bet you, if I asked Spencer, he would probably have a fact that could explain why she felt that," Emi challenged, taking a sip of the apple juice in her glass.

"Oh really?" Morgan said, smirking.

Overhearing their conversation, Spencer walked over to input some information. "Actually, there may be a physiological basis for it." Emi smirked at Morgan, triumphantly. "Reversed asymmetry monozygotic eggs split late between 9 to 12 days. The DNA matches right down to the very last stranded code, and there's sporadic documentation of shared physiological pain."

"And you believe it?" Morgan asked.

"No, I'm just saying it's possible," Spencer corrected, "I don't know everything."

At those words, Emi let out an unladylike snort and started choking on her apple juice. Hotch, who had just joined them, lightly patted her back as an attempt to help her.

"I'm serious," Spencer said, making a face at Emi before turning back to Morgan. "I mean, despite the fact that you think that I do."

"I never said that," Morgan denied. "When have I ever said that?"

"Everyday since I met you," Spencer said with a laugh.

"This morning at breakfast," Elle replied.

"And on the plane," Emi added, her coughing fit finally ending.

"Yesterday when he beat you at cards," Hotch finished as he stopped patting Emi's back and glanced at his watch. "Um...we've got one minute."

"Anybody ever heard of sarcasm?" Morgan asked as everyone walked past him.

"Yeah, leave that to the experts," Emi said, patting Morgan's arm.

She quickened her pace so she could catch up with Spencer and noticed that he was fighting to hide a giddy smile from appearing on his face.

"You really enjoyed teasing him, didn't you?" Emi chuckled.

"It's nice to finally be on the other end," Spencer admitted, letting a small smile show. They walked together to the living room before going their separate ways, Spencer going to his spot at a laptop and Emi walking over to where Elle and Cheryl stood.

"Remember, keep your voice even and calm and agree with everything he says," Gideon instructed Mr. Davenport. The man nodded and took a deep breath. He glanced at the clock and after realizing that it was already 8:00 PM, he turned to Gideon and Hotch, frantically. "He's late."

"He'll call," Hotch reassured him. "Just try to relax. This is his strategy. He wants you on edge."

Meanwhile, Emi was currently struggling to keep her eyes awake. She yawned just as the phone rang. Wiping away any sleepy tears, Emi quietly moved to stand behind Spencer's chair, bending down so her ear was next to Spencer's headphones.

"Remember to repeat any important information he gives you to make sure you understand," Gideon reminded him, "You try to keep him talking to reveal something about Trish or about himself." Mr. Davenport nodded again and Gideon answered the call.

"This is Evan Davenport."

" _Hello, Mr. Davenport,_ " an altered voice greeted.

"Are you the man who has my daughter Patricia?" Evan asked.

" _I have your daughter_."

"Can I ask you-"

" _You may ask me nothing,_ " the kidnapper interrupted. " _This is not an interrogatory, you will listen to my instructions but I will not give them to you._ " Mr. Davenport looked at the agents around him in confusion.

"I don't-"

" _I do not want to talk to you, Mr. Davenport,_ " the man said, slowly. " _I want to talk to her._ "

Everybody turned to look at the confused twin next to Elle.

" _I want to talk to Cheryl._ "

Gideon quickly pushed the mute button, and Evan turned to look at them.

"What's he doing?" he asked.

"What most of the offenders we catch try to do," Morgan said, sitting on the edge of the coffee table next to him. "establish dominance."

"How long can we keep him on hold?" Elle asked.

Hotch shook his head, "We can't put her on."

"Why not? I want to help. I'll talk to him," Cheryl said, snapping her head to the stoic man.

Hotch simply shook his head.

"Cheryl doesn't have the authority that Davenport holds," Morgan pointed out, "He shouldn't want to talk to her."

"Unless it's something personal," Emi said thoughtfully, causing all heads to snap to her. "Think about it, everything about this case is personal. His sentences in his note always starting with "you", the shot directly at the boyfriend's face. We thought that this unsub something against Mr. Davenport, but what if..." Emi directed her gaze from her lap to look at the people in the room. "...what if he has something against Cheryl, instead? I mean, losing a sibling-a twin, nonetheless-hurts just as much as losing a daughter would."

It was silent as everyone took in the Asian girl's words.

" _Do I need to repeat myself?_ " the unsub said, breaking the silence. " _I want to talk to Cheryl, put her on the phone. Now._ "

"No," Gideon said.

"I think she should speak to him. He wants to talk to her," Elle said. "If Emi is right, then he'll most likely reveal more talking to Cheryl than he will talking to Davenport."

"She's right, Gideon," Morgan agreed.

"He has my sister!" Cheryl snapped.

Gideon sighed and looked at Mr. Davenport, who was shaking his head. "No."

" _I'm waiting._ "

"Emi," Gideon called.

Emi turned to Cheryl, "Say something, anything. Quick. Go."

"I don't understand," Cheryl said, looking at Elle in confusion.

"I don't understand," Emi repeated, mimicking Cheryl's voice almost perfectly. Cheryl looked at the girl in shock as she walked over to Gideon and Mr. Davenport.

"Okay," Emi said, softly, and Gideon un-muted the phone.

"This is Cheryl," Emi said, using her 'Cheryl' voice again, "You said you wanted to talk to me."

The other end was silent for about 30 seconds before the unsub finally responded.

" _You almost had me there_ ," the unsub admitted, " _But I have Patricia by my side. I know her voice, therefore I know her sister's. Get off the phone. I want Cheryl. I'll give you 60 seconds. If you don't put her on the phone, I will hang up and you will never hear from me or Patricia again._ "

Gideon quickly hit the mute button again and stood up. "Prep her," he ordered, motioning for Cheryl to take his seat. "Come on over here, please."

" _50 seconds._ "

Elle and Cheryl quickly moved to the phone, while Emi went back to her spot next to Spencer.

"You did a good job," Spencer whispered, as Emi sat on the arm of his chair. "I honestly thought the unsub was going believe it."

Emi let out a shaky breath. "Thanks." She leaned down and buried her face in the crook of Spencer's neck.

Spencer moved his head and looked down at his girlfriend. "When was the last time you ate something?"

"I had some apple juice a few minutes ago," Emi mumbled.

"And the last time you had something solid?" Spencer insisted.

"At breakfast."

Spencer furrowed his eyebrows, "That was 12 hours ago. Emi, you need to eat. "

"I'm fine," Emi mumbled.

"Fine? You're about to fall asleep on me. The last time you didn't eat, you fainted, and that was after 8 hours." Spencer sighed and grabbed his messenger bag. After digging through it for about a second or two, Spencer pulled out a nutrition bar and held it out for Emi. "Here. After this call is over, we're getting you proper food."

Emi rolled her eyes but took the bar. She unwrapped it and took a bite. "Like you can talk," Emi mumbled after she swallowed. "You're like a stick."

" _10 seconds_ ," the unsub warned, drawing the couple's attention back to the call.

"And if you don't know what to say, I'll tell you," Emi overheard Elle tell Cheryl.

 _"3...2..1..._ " Elle slowly pressed the button to unmute the microphone, and Cheryl took a deep breath.

"This is Cheryl."

" _Hello, Cheryl,_ " the unsub greeted, " _How are you?_ "

Emi exchanged looks with Spencer and watched as he typed "Knows victim" on the transcript.

"I'd be a lot better if I knew that my sister..." Cheryl glanced at Elle before correcting herself. "P-Patricia's okay."

" _I can tell you have a lot of empathy, Cheryl,_ " the man said. " _You care about others._ "

"Yes, I do," Cheryl agreed. "And it sounds like you understand."

" _You mean that I_ empathize _?_ " Emi furrowed her eyebrows. Why does he keep using that word?

" _I do. Very much. I empathize. I empathize with you, Cheryl. I know you want to be with your sister._ "

"Yes, I want Trish back."

" _Good. Tell me what you want, Cheryl. I'm very interested. Tell me all about yourself._ " Emi felt herself shudder at the tone of the unsub. He sounded so creepy. " _What's your favorite color?_ "

Elle quickly pressed the mute button. "Don't answer that. Stay with Trish." With a nod from Cheryl, Elle un-muted the call, and Cheryl spoke again.

"If I tell you, will you let me talk to my sister?"

The unsub chuckled on the other end. " _Maybe. Maybe not._ "

"I like blue," Cheryl answered.

" _How ordinary,_ " came the unsub's reply. " _Do you like chocolate, Cheryl?_ "

Cheryl looked at Elle and then at Emi in confusion, unsure whether to answer the question or not.

" _Do...you...like...chocolate?_ " the man repeated slowly.

"Yes."

" _I do as well._ "

"Please, let me talk to my sister," Cheryl begged, but it got no reply. "All I want to do is hear her voice. Please."

The sound of a door creaking open could be heard from the other end, and a shallow breath followed after it.

"Hello?"

" _Cher?_ " the voice of a girl asked, and the Davenports instantly moved closer to the phone.

"Trish!"

" _Cher, is that you?_ "

"Trish, it's me. I'm here. Are you okay?" Cheryl asked frantically.

" _Cher, I can't..._ "

"Where are you?" Cheryl asked. "What do you see?"

" _I...I see the moon._ " was the girl's reply before the sound of the door creaking open could be heard again.

Cheryl's eyes widened when she realized what the sound meant. "Trish! Trish!"

" _Have 500,000 ready._ " The unsub said.

"Let me talk to her!" Cheryl begged.

" _$500,000 is what I'm owed. The Davenports will wait by the phone,_ " the man ordered. " _You will receive a call with precise instructions in exactly 15 minutes._ " The call ended, and Cheryl ran out of the room, dragging her father behind her.

"Were you able to trace it?" Gideon asked Spencer.

"No, he was probably using a disposable cell phone," Spencer said, reluctantly. "They're impossible to trace."

"She said she could see the moon," Elle stated.

"She sounded delirious," Gideon said, shrugging his shoulders.

"She was sedated," Spencer agreed. "Could have been a light."

"If he's keeping her drugged, it might mean he's not very strong," Morgan said. "He might have to keep her weak just so he can dominate her."

"Or he's keeping her quiet," Elle countered.

"Has Davenport told everything about his staff?" Gideon asked Hotch.

"Oh, yeah, we have detailed reports," Hotch told him, "but we should probably do a background check on staff, aides, and current docket."

"Guys, she wasn't blindfolded," Morgan pointed out. "If she's seen his face, as soon as he gets that money..."

Gideon nodded. "He'll kill her."

"I don't know..." Emi said, untying her hair so she could play with her hair tie. "Something doesn't seem right about this."

"What do you mean?" Hotch asked.

"I don't know about you guys, but didn't this guy seem...how to put it...uh, creepy?" Emi questioned.

"Most kidnappers _are_ creepy," Elle pointed out.

"True, but I don't know...the way he talked to Cheryl. The questions he asked. They just don't seem like someone who would kidnap for ransom," Emi said. "They just seem too personal."

"Well, personal or not, this guy has asked for a ransom, and we need to prepare this family for the next call," Morgan said, getting up.

Spencer got up as well, "And I need to get Emi some food."

Emi groaned but got up as well, "I'm telling you, I'm fine!"

* * *

"He said owed," Gideon muttered as he and Spencer read the transcripts that Spencer typed up. Emi was sitting on the couch, nibbling on the peanut butter and jelly sandwich that Spencer had made using some of the Davenport's food.

"$500,000," Spencer said, "His demand sounded scripted, like was reading it to us."

"But the rest of the conversation wasn't," Morgan said, from his spot on the arm of the couch. "He was his most relaxed when he was talking to Cheryl."

"What does that mean?" Gideon questioned.

Morgan shrugged. "Maybe he already knew her. How much time we got?"

Hotch glanced down at his watch. "6 minutes."

"How quickly can you get the money?" Gideon asked Mr. Davenport who had walked into the room a few minutes ago.

Emi opened her mouth to take another bite out of her sandwich, but realized that she had already finished it. Sighing, Emi got up from the couch and went to the kitchen to get something to drink. Walking in, she witnessed Elle take a bottle of wine and a glass out of Cheryl's hands.

"Look, I know I shouldn't drink, but under the circumstances, you'd think you could let this one slide," Cheryl said, a little annoyed.

"He's gonna call back. We need you at your best," Elle told her.

Awkwardly, Emi shuffled behind Elle and grabbed an empty glass before moving to the refrigerator for some water.

"Have you had many cases like this?" Cheryl asked.

"I've seen my share of abductions," Elle admitted.

Cheryl shook her head, looking back and forth between Emi and Elle. "I don't know how you do it, this job. How do you stomach it? How can you still be able to eat and drink?"

"The men I hunt down are cowards," Elle said, bluntly, holding Cheryl's gaze. "For the most part, they target the weakest members of society, women and children. There's nothing I'd rather do more than put the bastards away."

Cheryl tore her gaze away from Elle and shook her head. "I just wish you could get 'em before they snatch someone."

"Oh, honey, if it were that simple, many of us would be out of a job," Emi stated, drinking some water.

"Trish is alive," Elle said, "You've trusted your feelings this far. Hold onto that."

* * *

 _"Everything will be done by Cheryl. Cheryl will gather the money packets. Only she will touch the money. Cheryl will make the drop. If she is wired, if you use a look-a-like, Patricia dies. Cheryl will get in her car. No one is to be in the car with her, no one is to follow her, no air surveillance, no car surveillance of any kind will be tolerated. I will give directions over a cell phone as Cheryl drives. She must make the drop at exactly 3:00 A.M. She will follow each instruction to the letter."_

"We can't let her go alone," Hotch said once the unsub hung up.

Evan shook his head. "He said if he sees anyone-"

"I know. One car, unmarked," Hotch insisted, "Tinted windows."

The father hesitated, but after a reassuring nod from Spencer, the man relented. "If he sees one of you, and Trish dies-" the man stopped to let out a shaky breath. "If my daughter dies..."

"Cheryl's car has GPS. We'll be able to track her," Spencer told Morgan over the phone as he and Emi sat together at his laptop.

" _The first thing he's gonna do is have her switch cars,_ " Morgan said. " _Where are we headed?_ "

Emi leaned a bit over Spencer so she could pull up the GPS locator. "Looks like..." Emi let out a sigh of annoyance when she saw what the place was. "A rental car lot. Good luck."

* * *

"You look like you're thinking hard," Elle commented when she saw the frown on Emi's face.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing really," Emi said, "Just thinking about the case."

"Really? Well, I got something for you," Elle held out a McDonald's bag and a strawberry-banana smoothie. "Spencer had me go get these for you."

"Oh, you didn't have to," Emi protested, " _I mean it_." Those words were louder for the genius who had coincidentally just entered the living room.

"Emi, you're 5'3 and pretty active, which means you need about 2,108 calories every day," Spencer spouted, walking over to her. "You've only had a blueberry muffin and a cup of coffee this morning, giving you about 427 calories. I made you a peanut butter and jelly which adds 189, and you drank some apple juice, giving you another 113. You've only had about 729 calories which isn't even _half_ of what you need."

At this point, Spencer took the bag from Elle and took out the box of nuggets. "Each nugget has 59 calories. There are 10 nuggets here, so 590 in total. This smoothie is 210 calories, and each package of sweet 'n sour sauce is 50. If you eat all of this, and use all 2 packages of sauce, your total would be 1,629," Spencer calculated while Emi and Elle watched him rant in amusement. "You still need 479 calories though..."

"Okay, okay," Emi laughed. She took a nugget from the box and after dipping it into some sauce, she ate it. Once she finished eating it, she opened her mouth to show Spencer that she actually ate it. "There, I ate one. Happy?"

"Not until you finish all of these," Spencer said, gesturing to the rest of the food.

"So demanding," Emi muttered, taking a sip from her smoothie, "But I suppose that's one of the reasons why I love you."

The worry on Spencer's face disappeared and was replaced with a look of affection. "I love you, too."

Suddenly, Emi gasped, her eyes widening in realization. "Love," she repeated, softly. Spencer and Elle looked at her in confusion.

"What?"

"It was never about the money. The unsub doesn't even _care_ about the money!" she exclaimed just as Gideon entered the room.

"What?" Gideon asked, repeating the previous question.

"He doesn't want the money," Emi repeated, grabbing her phone to call Hotch. "He wants Cheryl. Cheryl isn't doing a ransom drop-she's walking straight into her own kidnapping."

* * *

About 15 minutes later, Morgan walked into the house.

"Cheryl's alright," he reassured everyone as the said girl followed in, Hotch right behind her. Just as Mr. Davenport pulled his daughter into a hug, the phone rang. Everyone rushed over to the phone and after the third ring, Morgan answered it.

" _That was fun wasn't it_?" The unsub said, panting. " _A little running around, getting our pulses racing-Are you there, Cheryl_ _?_ "

Morgan held out a hand, signaling the girl to be quiet.

" _Are you there, Cheryl?_ " he asked again, " _Are you there?! Tell me you didn't feel a slight tingle, a thrill run up your spine. Huh? But those clever and cunning FBI agents deduced my little plan just in time. If they hadn't, I would have had both of you, the whole set-the matching pair._ "

Emi watched as Spencer typed "He's a collector" into his transcript.

"Why are you doing this?" Cheryl spat, ignoring Morgan's order.

" _Because you asked me to, Cheryl,_ " the man said. " _You asked me with your glances. The way you talk. Those little gestures..._ "

Cheryl opened her mouth to disagree, but Morgan quickly pressed the mute button.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Do not answer this man," Morgan ordered as the unsub continued to speak.

" _You asked for this! You asked for it, Cheryl!"_

In a flash, Cheryl pushed Morgan's hand out of the way and unmuted the call. "What do you want?!"

" _What do I want?! You!"_ the unsub shouted. _"It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but I promise you, we will be together._ " With those words said, the call ended, and Cheryl moved to sit down in disbelief.

Emi sighed and sat down on the arm of Spencer's chair. "Correct me if you disagree, but I don't think we should let Cheryl speak to him anymore." Cheryl's head shot up and looked at the girl in confusion.

"What?"

Gideon nodded in agreement. "Yes, that would be best."

"Why?" Cheryl questioned.

"It's only feeding his psychosis through your interaction," Spencer tried to explain, but he only succeeded in making the girl even more confused.

"What?"

"By talking to him, you're feeding his obsession-his need to have you. The more to you talk to him, the more he'll want you," Emi explained. Hearing her explanation, Cheryl's face turned from confusion to understanding.

"Ooooh."

"Was Trish involved in any serious relationships prior to the kidnapping?" Spencer asked.

"With the boy that was killed," Mr. Davenport answered as Cheryl froze. "They were together for 2 years."

"Trish didn't want me to tell you," Cheryl said, weakly, "But they were getting engaged."

Gideon sighed, "Well, that certainly could have been the unsub's stressor," he said and the couple next to him nodded in agreement.

"What does that mean?" Davenport asked, confused. "Will someone please tell me what we're dealing with here?"

"De Clerambault's syndrome," Spencer said, "otherwise known as erotomania."

"It's when a person believes that someone is in love with them-that someone usually being of higher social status, but that doesn't necessarily mean a celebrity," Emi explained.

Spencer nodded and continued the explanation. "Erotomanics believe that the objects of their affection are subtly professing their love for them through looks, gestures-"

"Glances," Gideon finished. "He said, ' _you asked me with your glances._ '"

"The unsub truly and full-heartedly believes that Cheryl and Trish are in love with him," Spencer explained, "They don't tell him with their voices. No, with gestures and looks."

"He's obsessed with them," Emi added.

"What does this mean?" Mr. Davenport asked.

Gideon shook his head slightly. "He is the most determined kind of criminal."

* * *

The members of the BAU were now gathered in the kitchen, Gideon busying himself with cutting an orange.

"Crime of obsession. Your specialty, your lead, Morgan," Hotch said facing the said man.

"I think we should recheck everyone on Davenport's staff against the profile of a stalker," Morgan suggested.

"Aren't stalking behaviors pretty diverse?" Elle asked.

"There's overlap," Morgan explained, "Narcissistic, inflated sense of self-worth, history of bad relationships."

"What do we know so far?" Hotch asked.

"He's probably white, obviously male...Sophisticated speech patterns," Morgan listed.

"He never uses contractions," Emi pointed out.

Spencer nodded, "Yeah, he never say "you're" but instead, "you are"."

"This guy is pretentious. He wants to sound smarter than he actually is," Morgan continued, "Whatever position of authority or level of success this guy has he had to struggle for it."

"We also have to face the possibility that at this point..." Hotch trailed off.

"That Trish may already be dead," Elle finished.

"I really don't think so," Emi said, "In that phone call, he said that if the kidnapping went as planned, he would've had the whole "set" or "matching pair". It's obvious this guy has a fantasy of some sort where Trish and Cheryl are both in love him, and he loves them back. How would he fulfill those fantasy if he kills one of them?"

Everybody nodded to show that they understood her thinking. Meanwhile, Gideon had finished cutting his orange, he gave everyone a slice. When he handed one to Emi, she looked at it in distaste.

"I'm not a big fan of oranges. I prefer tangerines..."

"Eat it," Spencer ordered, taking it out of Gideon's hand and placing it into Emi's. "It'll give you 8 more calories."

Emi gave him an exasperated look as Elle laughed. "Really?"

Morgan chuckled but then sighed. "You know, so far he's called every play," Morgan pointed out. "I say we apply some pressure, make him sweat."

Emi sucked on the orange a second before pulling it out to talk. "I think I have an idea."

* * *

The phone rang again, and everyone gathered around it, Emi standing in front of it. However, instead of answering it, they let it ring.

"Hold on, hold on, hold on," Gideon ordered when he saw Mr. Davenport reach for it. He moved so he was standing next to Emi and motioned for Emi to continue what she was doing. They let it ring 5 more times before Emi finally answered.

To only hang up right away.

"What are you doing?" Mr. Davenport demanded, but they just ignored him, waiting for something.

As predicted, the phone rang again, but again, they didn't answer.

"Agent Gideon..."

After three rings, Emi answered the call. "Hello?"

 _"Tell me there was a technical issue with the line because if you actually just hung up on m-"_ Emi didn't let him finish and hung up again.

"What the hell are you doing?" Mr. Davenport questioned, glaring at the girl. He turned to look at all of the agents who just stood there. "Are you seriously letting her do this?"

"Please, Mr. Davenport," Gideon said calmly, "You must trust her on this."

Again, the phone began to ring, and at this point, Cheryl was starting to panic.

"Are you going to answer it?" she asked Emi.

"Why is she doing this? What is she-what-you're gonna drive this guy crazy," Mr. Davenport said, frantically, "Just-"

"Quiet. Please, quiet," Gideon shushed, causing the man to roll his eyes and scoff.

After letting it ring two more times, Cheryl couldn't handle it anymore and reached forward to answer it herself.

"Cheryl, she knows what she's doing," Elle tried to tell her, pulling the girl back.

"Somebody has to answer it!" Cheryl cried.

"Just answer the phone, for God's sake!" Mr. Davenport shouted, also reaching for the phone.

"Don't touch it!" Gideon yelled, pushing his hand away.

"She knows what she's doing," Morgan said, holding the father back.

Emi waited for everyone to quiet down before answering the call. "Hello, this is the Davenport residence."

" _Are you out of your mind, you do understand I will kill her, right?_ " the unsub spat from over the phone. " _Do you_ -"

Rolling her eyes, Emi hung up the phone again. It rang a second later and Emi smiled, looking at Gideon like a child looking at a parent for approval. Gideon smiled back at her and nodded.

"Bingo."

"You're killing my daughter!" Mr. Davenport roared. He tried to lunge at Emi, but Morgan made sure to hold him back. "Pick up the phone-pick up the phone!"

"Quiet, quiet," Gideon ordered, ignoring Mr. Davenport's shouts. "Mr. Davenport get a hold of yourself-make him quiet."

After waiting, once again, for Mr. Davenport to quiet down, Emi answered the phone.

" _She is dead!_ " was the first thing the man shouted. " _You hang up on me again, and I rip her open._ "

"I'm sorry, you must have the wrong number," Emi said cheerfully before hanging up once again.

At this point, Cheryl and Mr. Davenport were sobbing.

"You killed her," Mr. Davenport accused, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Emi shook her head, a soft smile on her face. "No, sir."

"Then what the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded.

Gideon sent him a look. "She's saving your daughter, Mr. Davenport." The phone rang once again, and Gideon looked at it. "Have a little faith," he mumbled before Emi answered the phone.

" _Put Cheryl on the phone_ ," the unsub ordered. Emi opened her mouth to reply, but Gideon held up a hand to silence her.

"No, you're finished talking to Cheryl," he said causing the unsub to scoff.

" _Listen to that tone of authority,_ " he said, " _Just like your published work, Agent Gideon, fascinating to hear the same arrogant quality in your own voice. You are a bit retentive, Jason-a bit didactic._ "

"Well, that's a very interesting conclusion," Gideon told him, "You sound intelligent and you certainly sound educated-we all know that's not true."

" _Oh, I know all about all of you_ ," the man retorted, _"The ambitious Agent Hotchner._ "

Hotch moved closer to the phone so he could hear what man had to say about him.

" _Want to be director of the FBI someday, Agent Hotchner?_ " the unsub asked, _"Would you step on Jason Gideon to get there-I think you would. Post Traumatic Stress is a very good excuse, and even your sick, pregnant wife can't get you to leave your post._

The agents all exchanged satisfied looks with each other as the unsub continued to share his profiles of them.

" _Jason Gideon-an expert in the criminal physic, yet unable to diagnose the autistic leadings of the very insecure Dr. Reid,_ " he said, _"Well, maybe he can make money counting cards in Las Vegas._ " Instinctively, Emi's hand reach for Spencer, and in return, Spencer held her hand.

" _The lovely Elle was promoted too soon,_ " the man continued, _"She doesn't have what it takes to make it in the BAU boys club. You're no threat to me-you're no threat to anyone._ "

Elle glared at phone, but the man continued.

" _Token Derek Morgan wants to be taken seriously, but he is just a pumped up side of beef_ "

Derek's response was a breathy laugh.

 _"And let's not forget about the young, insecure Emi Hinata. Always looking to the others for approval while trying to act like she belongs when in actuality, she's far from it._ "

The said woman felt Spencer's grip tighten around her hand, and in response, she squeezed it.

" _I know who you are, I know how you think, and I know what to do next-do you?_ " the man hung up and it was silent for a couple of seconds.

"What the hell was that?" Mr. Davenport finally asked, "Why did he say that he knows what to do next-is he going to hurt my daugther?"

Gideon shook his head. "He was grandstanding."

"You don't know that," Mr. Davenport denied, "You can't possibly know that."

"Mr. Davenport," Gideon said calmy as he watched Morgan push the further away from Gideon. "I have learned more in the past five minutes then in the last twenty four hours."

"Oh, really?" the man asked in disbelief. "Well, I don't understand, why is he focused on you right now?"

"Because we are interfering with his relationship witth the girls," Morgan answered.

"He said he knows all about you," Evan said.

Hotch nodded, smirking a little bit. "Yes, apparently."

"He profiled us," Emi explained when she saw the Davenports' confused looks.

"Why would he do that?" Cheryl asked.

"To show us how smart he is," Elle replied.

"A lot of the time the best profiles are the unsubs themselves," Spencer explained, "They're the ones able to walk into an arcade and pin point the boy or girl that can be led out quietly."

"But he made a mistake because he gave us something he didn't expect," Elle finished, earning more looks of confusion from the family.

"Which is...?"

Gideon smirked. "He told us how to find him."

* * *

"For the suspect to know that much about us, he has to be one of us," Morgan deduced as they all stood in the living, the Davenports somewhere else in the house.

"I'm gonna have Garcia do a search o the New Haven FBI field office," Hotch told them, "The guy we're looking for knows this house-knows the family."

"There's seven hundred agents in New Haven," Spencer informed them, "Then seventy in satellite offices, Davenport knows quiet a few of them."

"While we're narrowing the list, Cheryl can't stay here," Elle said, "He has access, weapons, and you bet he's got a strategy."

Morgan sighed, "So then who can we trust?"

"No one," Hotch replied, "We need to get Cheryl to a safe house.

Emi nodded in agreement. "And also limit the amount of agents she comes in contact with," she advised.

* * *

Emi, Spencer, and Gideon followed the paramedics as they rolled Trish out of the building she had been held captive in. The unsub had turned out to be Agent Vincent Shyer, an old friend of Evan Davenport. He had been one of the agents chosen to take Cheryl to the safe house, and managed knock Morgan out with a tazer. He had left Elle be, thinking that she was no threat, but ironically, she was the one who took him down.

"Hey, how did Elle get Shyer to give us Trish's location?" Spencer asked. Emi snorted, remembering what Elle had told her whereas Gideon just smirked.

"I imagine she found some creative way to persuade him," Gideon told the man.

"What do you think-"

"You know, you don't need to ask so many questions," Gideon interrupted, smiling. "Let's...just enjoy the moment."

Intent on learning how Elle did it, Spencer turned to Emi with a pout.

Emi giggled a little before answering. "She stepped on his dick."

She laughed again when she saw Spencer wince. "You know what, I think I'll take your advice on not asking so many question," Spencer said.

Gideon nodded with a smirk, "That's a good idea."


	5. 1-06 - LDSK

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 **ahowell1993 and Fairyofthenorthwest: Thank you for the reviews! And here's the new chapter! Hope you guys enjoys!**

* * *

Bang!

Emi flinched a little when Spencer shot the gun. He had already tried three shots to the head but ended up missing on all three. They were currently in the shooting range with Hotch, who was trying to teach Spencer how to shoot.

"On SWAT, we broke shots down into 3 steps," Hotch explained, "One: front sight. Focus on the front sight, not on the target. Two: controlled trigger press. Three: follow through. After the shot, you come right back to the target. Now, what did you do wrong?"

"I didn't follow through," Spencer answered.

"Right. You came off the target to see where you hit."

"Hotch, my firearms qualification is tomorrow morning," Spencer said, putting down his gun and taking off the headphones that they wear to muffle the noise, "I barely passed my last one."

Hotch pulled Spencer behind him, taking out his own gun. "Front sight, trigger press..."

Spencer quickly put his headphones back on just as Hotch shot, hitting the edge of the head.

"...follow through," Hotch finished, tucking his gun away, "You do those 3 things, you'll hit your target every time."

Spencer stepped forward and raised his gun again, pulling the trigger. Instead of the head, he shot the groin.

Hotch smirked. "Did Elle teach you that?" he joked, causing Emi to snort.

"Oh, like _you_ could do better," Spencer challenged, turning to face his girlfriend, "You've never even _touched_ a gun. You're probably going to fail the test with me."

Emi raised an eyebrow, "Oh, really?" She pushed Spencer aside and held out a hand. Spencer placed the gun in her hand, and Emi held it out in front of her.

"Sight, press..."

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

"...and follow," Emi said as she smugly stared at the three holes she had shot within the 5x circle in the chest area.

"Show off," Spencer muttered causing Emi to stick her tongue out at him.

Spencer looked at the shots Emi made, then at the ones he made. He let out a groan, "They're gonna take away my gun."

"A profiler is not required to carry," Hotch reminded him.

"Yeah? and yet you carry 2 of them," the genius pointed out.

Wordlessly, Hotch reached down and pulled out the gun strapped to his ankle.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Spencer couldn't help but roll his eyes when he saw the 3 new holes in the 5x chest circle.

"When I joined the BAU, Gideon said to me, "You don't have to carry a gun to kill someone"," Hotch told Spencer.

"I don't get it."

"You will," Hotch said, patting the boy's back, "Good luck tomorrow."

Spencer and Emi watched him run out of the shooting range before turning to look at each other.

"Do you get it?" Spencer asked his girlfriend.

Emi snorted, "Hell no."

* * *

"How'd it go?" Elle asked as Emi strolled over to her desk.

"I passed," Emi said, tossing her new gun onto her desk. "But I'd rather throw rocks than shoot someone."

Morgan snorted, " _That_ I'd like to see. Big bad unsub taken down by pebble thrown by tiny Asian girl."

Emi stuck her tongue out at him, and Elle rolled her eyes. "Anyways, how about Reid? How'd he do?" Elle asked.

Emi glanced around, checking to see if the said man was anywhere nearby. "He, uh...He failed."

Morgan let out a chuckle, "Oh, this is perfect!"

"Morgan..." Emi said, shooting him a warning look.

"What?" Morgan asked, innocently.

A few seconds later, Gideon walked into the office.

"Reid failed his qualification," Elle told him.

"He can re-test in 2 weeks," Gideon said, not seeing a problem.

"Yeah, but he's gonna be embarrassed about it, so let's not mention it," Elle said, giving Morgan a look.

"Yeah, let's not," Gideon said, also giving Morgan a look.

Morgan his hands in defeat, "Not a word."

Just then, Spencer walked past him and towards his own desk.

When Emi saw Morgan get up and grab something from his desk, she knew what was going to happen wasn't gonna be nice.

"Hey," Morgan said, hiding a hand behind his back, "We're all here for you."

Spencer rolled his eyes and didn't reply.

"I'm serious," Morgan said, causing Spencer to look at him in disbelief. "If you ever need anything..." he moved his hand from behind his back to reveal a whistle, which he quickly placed around Spencer's neck. He gave it a quick blow and smirk. "Just blow on that."

"Morgan," Emi snapped, giving him a smack on the head as Spencer removed the whistle and threw it on his desk in frustration.

"Hey, don't listen to him," Emi said, walking over to massage Spencer's tense shoulders. "You failed at shooting guns, so what? You could always join me in throwing rocks at unsubs instead."

Spencer chuckled weakly and felt himself relax a bit at the feeling of Emi's massage.

"Okay, Franklin Park, Des Plaines, yesterday afternoon," JJ said as she handed everyone a file. "3 victims shot at distance. It's the third such shooting in 2 weeks."

"A sniper?" Elle asked, looking through the file.

"We don't use that word," Morgan told her.

"Why not?"

"The public perception is that the FBI doesn't have an exemplary record with snipers," JJ explained.

"Besides, a sniper is a professional marksman. These guys aren't snipers," Hotch added.

"What do we call them then?" Elle asked.

"L.D.S.K.," Hotch answered, not looking up from the files.

"Long distance serial killers," Spencer supplied causing Elle to nod in understanding.

"How many of these guys have we caught using a profile?" She asked, to which Gideon quickly replied.

"None."

* * *

"2 weeks, 3 shooting incidents, 6 victims, all shot in the abdomen," Hotch explained to the group. They were now in the conference room, and Hotch was about to show them pictures. "First and only fatality, Henry Sachs, married, father of 3, was shot in a shopping center parking lot. 9 days later, Doug Miller and Kevin Parks were playing basketball at the community center. Franklin Park, 4 days later, Jerry Middleton, Kate Murray, and Tim Reilly. Des Plaines police have found no link between any of the victims."

"Ballistics?" Morgan asked.

"He's using frangible rounds, which fragment on impact, making ballistics impossible," Hotch told him.

"The good news is that all the park victims are gonna make it," JJ said, "The bad new is that none of them saw anything. However, one of the patients does have an intact bullet lodged in his spine."

"What's the prognosis," Gideon asked.

"Well, there's a disagreement among surgical staff as to whether they can remove the slug without paralyzing the patient," JJ explained.

"Well. without a useful witness or a solid piece of forensic evidence..." Morgan started, trailing off at the end.

"...the profile's all we'll have," Hotch finished reluctantly.

* * *

"LDSKs are so rare, we haven't been able to build a standard profile," Hotch explained as they all sat in the jet. "Here's what we do know: They're always male, and they frequently have law enforcement or military experience, and they always contact the police or the media."

"To take credit or relive the experience?" JJ asked.

"Both," Gideon answered, "All serial killers attempt to relive the ecstasy they get from their killings. Some use souvenirs taken from the victims, and others return to the dump site to interact with the body."

Emi couldn't help but make a face.

"Both modes require contact which by definition, long distance serial killers don't have," Gideon continued.

"The Belt Way shooters left a tarot card at one of their crime scenes," Hotch said, giving an example, "Later they called a tip hotline, which ultimately led to their capture."

"But our unsub hasn't contact anybody," Morgan pointed out.

"He will," Hotch said.

"Until he does, what do we have?" Elle asked.

"Sometimes it's not what the unsub does that reveals the profile. Sometimes it is what they do not do," Gideon said.

"He _doesn't_ kill his victims," Spencer suggested.

"Underkill's a unique signature," Gideon told them.

"Question is, does he shoot them in the stomach intentionally just to wound them, or is he just aiming at the biggest part of the target?" Hotch asked, "Specifically, does the unsub lack the skill to make the head shot, or simply the will to take it?"

* * *

"Come on, Barry, you don't know that!" Elle and Emi exchanged confused looks as they, Gideon, and JJ followed a woman into a conference room in the hospital.

"Good morning, doctors," the woman said loudly in order to get their attention.

"Forgive us. We were just reviewing the cases at hand," the man that had shouted said.

"This is Dr. Neil Erstadt, chief of surgery," the woman said, gesturing towards the man that had shouted, "and our trauma specialist, Dr. Barry Landman." The curly-haired man nodded at them. "These are the FBI profilers, Agent Gideon, Jareau, Greenaway, and Hinata."

"How are you?" Gideon said, shaking Dr. Erstdadt's hand. He moved to Dr. Landman to shake hands, but the man stopped him.

"Forgive me. I don't shake," the man said, "My hands, you understand?"

"Of course."

"So as psychological profilers, what exactly are you looking for?" Dr. Landman asked.

"How the victims were shot," Gideon explained, "That could reveal the shooter's signature behavior.

"These separate wound channels blossom from the entrance wounds," Dr. Erstadt explained as he pointed at x-rays on the board, "You can see the trauma's extensive."

"You performed the surgeries?" Gideon questioned.

"On patient Miller," the man said, "I consulted along with Landman on the others. The intact slug lodged between the L4-L4 vertebrae. Any attempt to remove it, would likely leave the patient paralyzed."

"In your opinion," Dr. Landman cut in.

"In my opinion," Dr. Erstadt corrected, causing Gideon to send him a look.

"Disagree?"

"With the right surgeon, there is no risk," Mr. Landman said, cockily.

"There's always risk," the other doctor replied.

"What significance does the bullet have in building a profile?" the woman that had brought the group in ask.

"Well, even if we can't get a ballistics match, we can get a rifle type, the specific type of rifle the suspect uses, that could be very significant to the profile," Gideon explained.

"You believe you can safely perform the surgery, Dr. Landman?" the woman asked.

The man scoffed, "I know I can."

* * *

"If I'm the unsub, why do I shoot my victims between 2:55 and 3:15?" Elle said, out loud. The doctors and the lady had left minutes before, leaving the 4 agents to their notes and thoughts.

"That's when I'd do it," Gideon said, "There are fewer cops on the street."

"Why is that?" Elle asked.

"The police overlap shifts. That way, there's always someone on patrol," Emi explained, "Second shift starts at 3:00, but first shifts ends at 3:30."

"Wouldn't there be twice as many cops on the street at that time?" JJ asked.

"That's what people assume," Emi said, "First half-hour of your shift, you're in roll call-meaning, you're not on the street. And the last half-hour, you're at the station, finishing reports, booking prisoners, etc. So, the 25-30 minutes the first and second shift share, there's actually no one on the streets, watching-the perfect time for a bad guy to act."

Elle nodded in understanding, but then made a face of confusion, "Wait, how do you know that?"

"Daichi's a police officer," Emi said, shrugging.

"Oh, well how many people outside law enforcement would know that?" Elle asked, but after seeing Gideon's face, she realized, "But the unsub does, and you've already thought of this."

"I had considered it," Gideon admitted.

The door opened, and the agents watched as Dr. Landman walked in, dropping a bag with the bullet inside in front of Gideon.

"Hope you find it useful," he said before turning to walk out of the room.

"Dr. Landman?" Gideon called, making the man stop and turn back. "How's Mr. Middleton?"

"Patient will make a full recovery..." he said, "...as I told you he would." He turned to send Emi a wink before leaving. Emi made a face of disgust and Elle snorted in a failed attempt to hide her laughter.

JJ simply rolled her eyes and looked back down at her notes, "Radiology is set up to take photos and e-mail them out for consults."

"Call Hotch. We're getting the bullet to Garcia," Gideon ordered, "Fill him in on the shift change theory."

* * *

"3 more victims with non-fatal wounds, and it's only been 48 hours since the last shooting," Elle said. There had been another shooting, and Elle, Emi, Gideon, and JJ were now at the new crime scene in hopes of finding new information.

"The media attention and the FBI presence will only escalate his desire to shoot again," Gideon said, and Detective Calvin sent him confused look.

"Meaning?"

"This is gonna get much worse," Gideon told her.

"Then, we need to give the police a profile immediately," JJ said, "You ready?"

"Look, it's the state troopers," Emi pointed out, looking behind JJ, "This is the second time they've crossed jurisdictions."

Gideon nodded before answering JJ's question. "Yeah, we're ready. They're not gonna like it."

* * *

"This initial profile is not ready to be given to the media," JJ warned, looking at all of the cops gathered in the station, "releasing this profile prematurely can get people killed."

Satisfied with her warning, JJ walked away from in front of the cops and let Hotch take over.

"We're looking for a 30 to 40-year-old male veteran, driving a car large enough to shoot from, but not so large it was noticed," Hotch stated, "Like the Beltway shooter, it's probably a Sedan, customized to conceal the shooter, his weapon, and the sound of his shot.

"The unsub suffers from both narcissistic and paranoid personality disorders," Hotch continued, "He works out obsessively and is never without a weapon. He's completely self-centered and cannot empathize with others, incapable of admitting fault, he blames his shortcomings on those around him. He has no friends, and his career history has been marked by frequent job changes. He's drawn to high-stakes jobs by a need to prove his superiority to a world he perceives has undervalued him, and these shootings are the ultimate expression of that need.

Hotch sighed before adding, "We believe he changes jurisdictions intentionally and strikes during the first/second shift change, indicating an intimate knowledge of law enforcement."

"You're saying he's one of us," one of the cops said, bluntly.

"We're saying he once was or is now a police officer," Hotch said, earning an eye-roll from the cop.

"Is he driving a white van, too?" he asked, causing some officers to chuckle.

The police chief turned around in his seat and sent them all a stern look. "Enough," he said, ending the laughter. "That'll be all for now." He turned to look back at the profilers, "We can talk in my office."

* * *

The BAU agents and some officers were now in Franklin Park, reenacting the third shooting in attempt to get a better understanding of the unsub's MO. Emi had offered to stay behind and watch the news in case the unsub decided to contact the media. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary, until Emi flipped to channel 3.

Emi quickly grabbed her phone and dialed JJ. "Hey, JJ? Yeah, you need to watch channel 3. The reporter is in front of Franklin Park, and from what I'm hearing right now, someone leaked the profile."

* * *

When the team finally walked back into the police station, Emi stood up, looking at them, expectantly. "What happened?"

"The leak was Scott McCarty," Elle explained, "But he's not the unsub."

Emi's eyebrows furrowed, "What? Are you sure?"

Morgan nodded, "Yep. We arrested McCarty, and then he got shot-by our unsub, in the head. Died on the spot."

Emi's eyes widened, "Oh my God..."

JJ sighed and sat down at the table, "How did McCarty end up playing the unsub?" she asked the detective.

"Weigart punished McCarty for mouthing off during the profile briefing by making him the unsub and sticking him in the trunk of the car all afternoon," Calvin explained.

"Wait. Then, how did the unsub find out about the reenactment?" JJ asked, confused.

"Come on. Cop talks," Morgan said, "Pissed-off cops talk loud-at home, at the bars, at gyms, and to anyone who'll listen."

"What do we know?" Gideon asked before starting the list, "the unsub went from wounding civilians to executing a police officer, so he's escalated. He's not staying on script."

"Sometimes it's what they don't do," Hotch quoted, remembering what Gideon had said on the plane.

"He did not pick McCarty at random," Spencer spoke up.

"He didn't take the gut shot," Morgan added.

"Why?" Hotch questioned.

"Well, you guys tried to arrest McCarty, right?" Emi asked, "He doesn't like McCarty getting the credit, so he sends a message. "Nobody takes credit for my work."

"Yes, ma'am, His ego won't allow it," Gideon confirmed, "He feels under appreciated."

"Okay, but we still don't know why he wounds them," Elle said as Morgan's phone started to ring.

"Excuse me," he said, walking out of the room to answer the call.

"We know if the killer has no contact with his victims, he will contact the media," Gideon continued.

"But he hasn't contacted the media," Elle pointed out.

"He has contact with his victims," Emi realized.

"And there's only one way," Hotch said, making eye contact with Gideon.

"Garcia nailed down the geographic profile," Morgan told them after he finished his call, "The crime scenes are centered on 2 separate locations."

Hotch nodded, "The hospitals."

* * *

"I believe it's a case of hero homicide," Gideon told the detective as they drove to the hospital.

"What's that?"

"The best-known case was hospital nurse Richard Angelo," Spencer explained. He was sitting in the backseat along with Emi. "He would inject toxins into his victims, then wait for them to crash so that he could run to the rescue and save them. He killed twenty five people-and that's just what we know of."

"If he attacked 'em to save 'em, why'd he kill 25 people?" the detective asked.

"Well, he wasn't very good at it," Emi said.

"Yeah, and hospitals don't keep records of people who almost died," Spencer said.

"So what's the profile on one of these guys?"

"Arrogant, conceited, feels superior to everyone around them," Emi listed, "So pretty much 99.9% of all surgeons out there."

Detective Calvin chuckled, a smirk on her face. "You got that right."

"Landman," Gideon suddenly said, "Let's start with Landman."

* * *

"Okay. Courtesy of Garcia," Morgan said as he pulled a paper from the fax machine. "Landman was army, started out in MP school."

"Well, there's there's your law enforcement," Elle said.

"But he was smart," Morgan said as his eyes scanned the paper. , "got a degree on Uncle Sam and ended up a doctor with special forces and bounced around from hospital to hospital since his discharge in 2001."

"Has Dr. Landman been under any unusual strain?" Gideon asked, turning to face the head of the hospital, "Has he had a reprimand? Has he had any kind of major blow to his ego?"

The woman's eyes widened. "Last month he was passed over for chief of surgery," she remembered.

Gideon nodded. "Let's get a warrant for his house. Let's see if we find the weapon."

"Okay," Morgan said, getting up to leave the room.

"What can I do to help?" the head of the hospital asked.

"You can tell me where he is right now."

* * *

Emi, Spencer, Elle, and JJ stood outside of the hospital room, watching as Gideon confronted Dr. Landman.

"That guy gives me the creeps," Elle muttered as she glared at the man.

"You and me both," JJ agreed.

"Hey, at least he didn't try hitting on _you_ ," Emi retorted.

Spencer frowned, "He _hit_ on you?"

"It was absolutely disgusting," Emi said, pouting at Spencer, "If he wasn't a surgeon, I would've kneed him right then and there."

"Or throw a rock at him?" Elle joked just as Hotch walked over to them.

He looked at them in confusion, "What?"

Emi laughed and shook her head, "You had to be there, but I'll try to explain later."

"You get anything from his car?" Elle asked, turning serious.

"It's a red 2-seat Maserati," he said, causing JJ to let out a breath-filled laugh.

"Of course," she muttered.

"If he's the shooter, he has another vehicle," Hotch said.

"I was in my office with Dr. Hannah Pate-I'm not the only one who thinks I'm a God," Dr. Landman suddenly, gaining everyone's attention. He stared at them as he said, "She's in the ER, right now-go on, ask her."

"Great. Let's take a walk down to the ER," Hotch said to Spencer.

Spencer moved to follow him, but Emi quickly grabbed Spencer's sleeve.

"Be careful, yeah?" Emi whispered, giving him quick peck on the cheek, "Landman's a suspect, but the unsub may still be out there. So I'm gonna say it again, be careful."

Spencer grabbed Emi's hand and gave it a small squeeze. "I will," he reassured her before leaving to follow Hotch.

* * *

Gideon finally left the room and sighed. "He has the worst narcissistic personality disorder I've ever seen, but it's not likely him," he said to the girls waiting outside for him.

Suddenly, shouts and cries could be heard from nearby. The sound of a rifle shooting quickly followed, and the 4 agents quickly ran to the source.

When they arrived, SWAT was already there, crowding around a door.

"What's going on?" Emi asked, running up to the Morgan, who was already there.

"It was Phillip Dowd," Moragn explained, "He's armed and has a room full of hostages. Hotch and Reid are also there."

"Spencer," Emi whispered, her eyes wide in fear.

"What can you tell us about Dowd?" Gideon asked as he, Elle, and JJ joined them.

"He joined the army at 18, went to ranger school, did 6 years before being dishonorably discharged in '95 for conduct unbecoming," Morgan informed them, "obviously lied about it, joined the Arlington P.D."

"You were right. He was a cop," JJ said to Gideon.

"For 9 months," Elle added as she read the man's file, "When they found out he lied about the discharge, they kicked him out. Soon, thereafter, Dowd got his nursing license."

"According to Garcia, he's been bouncing from hospital to hospital ever since," Morgan said.

* * *

"Please don't send your men in yet," Emi begged to the chief.

"You have to consider the possibility that your men are dead or at least disarmed," the man said.

"Agent Hotch is a very experienced profiler," Gideon explained, "He's gonna do whatever he has to to get Dowd to like, trust us. And once he does...he'll get Dowd to end this peacefully. I-I just...ask that you give him time."

"Dowd's already shot 10 people," the chief said, "He _killed_ a cop."

"The cop is dead," Gideon said, "This is man is a violent, deranged paranoid. It's a game. He's gonna-He's gonna do whatever he has to."

"You send your men in, and they're just gonna become villains in his sick, little hero fantasy," Emi warned, "You're letting him call all the shots."

"How are your unarmed men gonna stop him?" the chief snapped.

"They're not unarmed," Gideon disagreed, "They have his profile."

"They understand him," Emi added, "They can get into his mind and manipulate or trick him."

The chief stared at Emi and Gideon long and hard before sighing in defeat. "3 minutes," he complied, "Then my men are ready to take the ER. Your men...have 3 minutes."

"Thank you," Emi said, letting a sigh of relief.

* * *

3 minutes later...

"Time's up," the chief announced, "Ready teams for assault."

The police marched towards the ER and the remaining agents couldn't do anything but watch.

Emi choke back a sob as she clung to Elle, hiding her face in Elle's shoulder.

"It's gonna be okay," Elle whispered, soothingly rubbing the shaking girl's back, "They're gonna come alive and okay."

* * *

Like Elle had said, Hotch and Spencer came out of the ER alive. The same couldn't be said for the Dowd. Spencer had managed to shoot him in the head, although he claimed that he had aimed for the leg.

The boy genius was currently sitting in the back of the ambulance, his girlfriend hugging him tightly.

"I'm okay," Spencer tried to reassure her, but the girl shook her head.

"You could've died," she whispered.

"I'm a profiler, I could die on any case," Spencer said before realizing that that probably wasn't the right thing to say at the moment. "But I mean, I'm here, now. I'm not dead, yet."

The only response he got was a tighter hug.

"You all right?" Hotch asked as he walked up to the couple. After receiving a small nod from Spencer, the man smiled slightly. "Nice shot," he complimented.

"I was aiming for his leg," Spencer admitted.

"I wouldn't have kept kicking, but I was afraid you didn't get my plans," Hotch said.

"I got your plan the minute you moved the hostages out of my line of fire," Spencer told him.

"I'm probably gonna regret this, and I apologize in advice," Emi said quietly as she let go of Spencer and moved to stand in front of Hotch. In a quick second, she raised her hand and slapped Hotch, "If you ever do something like that to Spencer again, I won't hesitate to do the same to you."

Despite having been slapped by the girl, Hotch smiled at her. "Duly noted," he said before turning back to face Spencer. "I hope I didn't hurt you too badly," the man said, causing Spencer to smirk.

"Hotch, I was a 12-year-old child prodigy in a Las Vegas public high school," he said, "You kick like a 9-year-old girl."

Hotch chuckled, patting Spencer on the back.

"No, keep it," he said when Spencer tried to give him his gun back. "As far as I'm concerned, you passed your qualification."

Spencer smiled and pocketed the gun as Hotch walked away. He stood up and wrapped an arm around Emi, bringing her close, and together, they walked away from the ambulance.

"Reid, you all right?" Morgan asked as they walked past him.

Not giving a reply, Spencer simply threw the whistle Morgan had given earlier that day, back at the man and walked away.

* * *

They were now on the jet, on their way home. Emi had fallen asleep against Spencer's shoulder, and Spencer was staring out the window, thinking about the events that had happened that day.

"How you doing?" Spencer turned away from the window to see Gideon standing at the table side.

"You were right," Spencer said, referring to the conversation they had earlier that day, "You don't need a gun to kill somebody."

Gideon nodded and moved to sit down in front of the boy. "No, you don't."

"But it helps," Spencer added with a small smile.

"Yes," Gideon agreed. "Yes."

Spencer gently moved Emi's head from his shoulder to his lap before looking back up at the man in front of him. "I-I know I should feel bad about...what happened. I mean...I killed a man. You know, I-I should...feel something. But I don't."

"Well, knowing what you're feelin'...that's not the same as not feelin' anything," Gideon replied. When he saw Spencer's slightly confused face, he decided to elaborate. "This is gonna hit you...and when it does...there's only 4 facts you need to know; you did what you had to do, and a lot of good people are alive because of what you did."

"What are the others?" Spencer asked.

"I'm proud of you," Gideon said, making Spencer smile, "And so is she."

Spencer looked down at the sleeping girl on his lap before looking back up at Gideon.

"She loves you," Gideon said, "What you two have is very special, and very few have the kind of love you two share. Don't lose it."

Spencer nodded, looking back down at the girl, fondly. "I won't."


	6. 1-09 - Derailed

**If you can, pleaes favorite, follow, and/or leave a review (I love reading them!)**

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 **A/N: There are a lot of episodes in Criminal Minds, and let's face it. If I were to write all of them, I'd be writing till I'm like 90. So, instead, I decided to skip some episodes. I'm sorry in advance if I skip an episode you were looking forward to. If so, then feel free to tell me, and I might end up writing that one. Also, I will be going to California next week, and then going to SAT prep classes after I come back, so updates will be slow. Sorry.**

 **-SingingGeekyBookWorm-**

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 **Review Responses:**

 **ahowell1993, Fairyofthewest, & CrystalVixen93: Thank you, once again, for the reviews. I love reading them!**

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"Okay, so there's food in the fridge, and it should be enough to last a week," Emi told Spencer, "I should only be gone for five days, but if you somehow run out of food, there's money in the piggy bank. Also, just because I'm not gonna be here doesn't mean you get to stay up for as long as you want."

"Yes, _mom_ ," Spencer said, jokingly rolling his eyes, "I'm a big boy, now. I can take care of myself."

"Okay, okay, I get it. I'm sorry for mothering you," Emi apologized, wrapping her arms around Spencer's neck. "Just promise me that when I come back, our apartment isn't blown up or something like that."

"I'll try my best," Spencer joked, leaning down to kiss her. After a few seconds, they pulled away and just smiled at each other until Emi's eyes glanced at the clock behind Spencer.

"Shit! I was supposed to meet Elle at the airport, right now! Elle's gonna kill me!"

* * *

Emi and Elle were now on a train to Dallas to do custodial interviews with William DeVries.

"It's me." Emi looked up from her copy of the files to see Elle on the phone. Emi sent her a questioning look to which Elle responded by mouthing "Gideon".

"We won't even be there for an hour," Elle told Gideon, "We took a train from El Paso instead of renting a car. We wanted to look over the files more."

"If we know the crime better than he does-Yes, I remember, _Dad_."

"Wait." Elle said, moving so she was closer to the window, "What?"

"Wait, I'm losing you," Elle said before becoming a little crestfallen, "Yeah. Okay. Tomorrow."

"Hello? Hello?" Elle sighed as she flipped her phone shut.

"Lost connection?" Emi asked.

"Yeah," Elle said, picking up her file to look over it again.

* * *

A few minutes later, the train came to an abrupt stop.

"What the hell was that?" a guy demanded, getting up.

"Everything's all right, folks," a security guard said, walking into their compartment, "Everybody just relax. Everything's going to be fine. Everything's fine."

"What happened?" Elle asked.

"Nothing, ma'am," he said before seeing the file on her lap. "You on the job?" he asked, bending down so he can whisper to her.

"FBI," Elle said, gesturing to Emi, "So is she."

"Suicide. Somebody jumped in front of the train," he told them, quietly.

"Is there anything we can do?" Emi asked.

"Unfortunately, we have this procedure down fairly well," he replied before getting up again to reassure everyone else. "Everybody just relax. Everything's gonna be fine. We're going to be back underway again shortly. Don't worry, folks. Like I said, everything's going to be okay. Everything's going to be fine-"

Suddenly, a man jumped out of his seat and grabbed the security guard's gun, shooting the guard two times in the stomach.

"Oh, my!"

Emi quickly rushed over to the security guard, taking off her jacket to press it against the wound.

At the same time, Elle also got up, but the man with the gun ran towards her and hit her with it.

"Elle!" Emi shouted, getting up, but as she did, the man turned around and shot her in the stomach.

"Emi!"

"Nobody move!" the man shouted as he grabbed Elle's gun and raised it along with the other one.

"Okay. Okay. You don't have to hurt anybody else," Elle tried to tell him.

"What are you doing, Teddy?" a woman asked him.

"Shut up! Shut up!" the man, Ted, ordered, frantically looking around the compartment.

* * *

5 hours later...

There was now a barricade surrounding the train. Luckily for Emi, she had found a first aid kit, and managed to convince Ted to let her treat herself-but not the security guard to her dismay. She had managed to wrap a gauze around her stomach tight enough to stop the blood for 5 hours. How much longer she'll be able to last, Emi didn't know.

Ted had Elle handcuffed to the seats, and Emi sat in front of her, her blood-soaked hands wrapped around her stomach. The other hostages in their compartment were Dr. Linda Deaton, Ted's psychiatrist, Josh Patel, a former undergrad of Gillett University, and Harry Anderson, a paper goods salesman

"Teddy, you have to listen to me," Dr. Deaton said in a gentle but firm voice.

"No!" Ted shouted, "You have to listen to me, now."

"Lady, your boyfriend is whacked out of his mind," Josh said.

"He's not my boyfriend," she said, annoyed.

"Then who is he?"

"He's a psych patient, right?" Emi asked, " _You_ _r_ psych patient?"

"Yes," Dr. Deaton confirmed, "I was taking him to Dallas to speak at a conference, as an example of the progress being made to relieve severe psychosis."

"He's an example of progress?" Josh scoffed.

"What do we do to calm him?" Elle asked.

"He's never had this sort of break from reality," Dr. Deaton admitted, "Never been violent."

"What can we do?" Elle asked again.

"Make him feel less threatened."

"We're a threat to him? He's got two guns," Josh said. He then noticed that Harry had his hand in his briefcase. "What are you doing?"

"Don't be stupid," Elle snapped, assuming that he was going to pull out a gun.

The man glanced at her before pulling out a Bible.

"Are you kidding me?" Josh asked in disbelief, "What are you going to do? Throw it at him?"

"Come on!" Ted suddenly shouted, his attention still on the FBI SUV.

"Whacked out of his mind," Josh said again, taking a huge gulp from his flask.

* * *

"This is going to end today," Ted declared, marching over to the hostages.

"Ted, you have to try and concentrate," Dr. Deaton tried to tell him, but he simply ignored her.

"Get up!" he shouted, grabbing Emi's hair.

"Ow!" Emi shouted when she felt pain in her stomach.

"Emi!" Elle shouted in concern, her sisterly instincts kicking in. "Take me," she said to Ted.

"You think I'm going to let you send them messages?" Ted asked.

"They're going to want to talk to me," Elle said, "I can get you whatever it is that you want. Take me!"

"Hey, man-" Josh started to say, getting up, but he was cut off by Ted hitting on the head with the gun.

"You, too?" Ted snarled, pointing the gun at Harry.

"No, no. I didn't do anything!" Harry said.

"Ted, you're not in any danger here. You have to believe me," Dr. Deaton pleaded.

"Elle," Emi said in a shaky breath, "It's okay."

"Don't say a single word unless I say it," Ted ordered Emi, dragging her down the aisle towards the phone. "Deviate a single word and I will kill you.

"Don't try to send them any secret messages or code," Ted continued dropping her in front of the phone and pointing a gun at her. "Do you understand?"

"I understand," Emi said, shakily picking up the phone.

 _"Are you okay?"_ Emi relaxed a little when she heard Gideon's voice through the phone.

"Ask him who they were, the ones who just arrived," Ted ordered.

"He wants to know who you are-who just arrived," Emi repeated.

 _"Tell him it's someone who can help resolve the situation,"_ Gideon told her.

Emi repeated the message to Ted, and Ted pulled her close, whispering into her ear, "What part of the government do they work for?"

"What part of the government do you work for?"

 _"I never said I was with the government."_

"Ask them what part of the government do you work for!" Ted repeated. He dug the gun against her wound, causing her to let out a cry of pain.

" _Emi!"_

"Don't hurt her!" Elle shouted, struggling against the handcuffs.

"No! Ask if they're NSA. No, ask..." Ted pressed the gun further against Emi's wound as he couldn't decide what to ask. Emi tried not to make any noise, but a whimper still managed to slip out. "They're FBI, aren't they?" Ted realized.

"Are you FBI?"

 _"He can ask me himself_."

Emi clutched her stomach as she handed the phone over to the man, "He said you can ask him yourself."

Enraged, Ted hit the seat in front of him before taking the phone, "Tell me who you are or this agent dies!"

"If you're the Higher Authority, then you can have it removed."

"I want it removed now."

"No! Wait!" Ted shouted, "Okay! Uh, one hour. You have one hour to remove it, or I swear to God I'll kill every agent on this train."

* * *

20 minutes later...

Emi hissed as she felt pressure on her wound.

"Sorry," Elle apologized, as she wrapped a new, clean gauze around Emi's stomach. As she worked she asked the other hostages, "Any of you guys have a cell phone with service?"

"We're in the middle of nowhere. Welcome to Texas," Josh said, hissing as Dr. Deaton tried to clean the blood from his cut. "Ow."

"You're bleeding more than you should be from a cut this small," she stated.

"Thin blood."

"The agents outside need to know what "it" is he wants removed," Elle said.

"He thinks the government is watching him-monitoring him," Dr. Deaton told her.

"They monitor _all_ of us," Josh said, "They have ways of finding out everything you do."

"Don't be stupid," Harry snapped.

"There's an FBI agent on board," Josh pointed out, "You think that's a coincidence?"

"Two," Emi muttered.

"Two?" Josh repeated, his eyes widening in realization, "No way. You're-"

"Yes, now shut up," Emi snapped.

"I'm doing it!" Ted randomly shouted, startling everyone.

"He's going to kill us, isn't he?" Josh assumed.

"No."

"He killed that security guard," Harry pointed out.

"How observant," Emi muttered, rolling her eyes.

"The security guard had a gun. He felt threatened by him," Dr. Deaton explained, getting annoyed by the two male hostages.

"It's so hot!" Ted shouted.

"You took hostages in the middle of Texas," Josh said, getting up, "Of course it's hot."

A flash of anger crossed Ted's face as he made his way towards the boy, his gun raised.

"No!" Dr. Deaton shouted, pushing Josh behind her, "That's exactly what they want, Ted. They want to divert you from having it removed."

"You're close to having it removed," Dr. Deaton said, gently taking a hold of Ted's arm.

When Emi saw the scars on his arm, her eyes widened in realization-she knew exactly what "it" was.

"A microchip," she whispered to herself.

Hearing that, Elle's head snapped towards the girl. "What?"

"A microchip," Emi repeated to Elle quietly, "That's what "it" is! He thinks there's a microchip in his arm, and he wants it removed."

* * *

"Hey," Harry whispered, getting Elle and Emi's attention. "Why aren't they helping us?" he asked, referring to the agents.

"We're going to get through this just fine," Elle said.

"We?" Josh repeated, "He isn't pissed at us. _You're_ the government agent."

"He probably thinks we're all agents. He believes almost everyone is," Dr. Deaton told them.

"I'm not with any government agent," Josh said to Ted, getting up. "I'm with you. Big Brother, right? Newthink, newspeak? Hate is love, war is peace."

"Stop it!" Ted shouted, raising the gun at him.

"No, Ted. It's okay," Dr. Deaton said, moving to stand in front of Josh, "He doesn't mean anything."

"Yeah, chill. I support you," Josh said, "Screw the government."

"Shut up before you make things worse," Emi hissed at him.

"Make him sit down," Ted told Dr. Deaton before sitting down himself.

* * *

"What we need is a strategy," Dr. Deaton said, "I'll try to talk to him."

"You think that's wise?" Elle asked.

The woman didn't say anything, but slowly walked towards her patient. "Ted? You feel a little bit better now? You're in no danger here. These people don't want to hurt you. The FBI agent just happened to be on the train today. She wasn't following you. Wasn't watching you.

"Let them go, Ted. I'll stay with you," Dr. Deaton offered, "You and I will do this together, only you need to let these people go. I will wait with you. No one wants to hurt you. We don't want to hurt you."

"No!" Ted shouted, pointing the gun at her.

"No, it's okay, Ted," Dr. Deaton said, backing away from him, "Ted, it's okay."

"Don't!" Elle shouted, grabbing his arm, "I will make sure that they never take it out of you. If you hurt one more person on this train, I swear to God, I'll make them leave it in you forever."

At that moment, the phone rang. Ted glanced at Elle one last time before marching over to the phone, answering it. "What?"

"I want it out," he said into the phone.

"No! One. One technician," he said, pausing for a second before saying, "One technician! Or every agent on this train dies."

After a few more seconds, Ted shook his head, covering his ears. "Not anymore. I want it out, now. Right now! Now!"

* * *

Footsteps could be heard, and Ted jumped out of his seat, grabbing Emi. He held her against him and pointed the gun at her wound.

A few seconds later, Spencer appeared in the doorway.

"Spencer, no," Emi whispered. Luckily for her, Ted didn't seem to have heard her.

"That's far enough," Ted said when Spencer took a step into the compartment.

"Hello, everyone," Spencer said, as he walked a little bit farther in the compartment. He made brief eye contact with Emi but quickly glanced away when he realized what he was doing. "Here to remove a chip from Dr. Bryar."

"Take the vest off. I want to see you," Ted ordered.

Spencer blinked. "I don't have any weapons," he said, "The Higher Authority doesn't authorize it for technicians.

"Take it off!" Ted repeated.

Slowly, Spencer took off his vest, throwing it onto a nearby seat.

"Come closer. I want to see both of your hands at all times."

Spencer cautiously walked closer, raising his hands over.

"You sit across from me," Ted ordered once Spencer was a few feet away from them. They moved so Spencer and Ted were both standing in front of seats across from each other. Ted threw Emi aside and then he and Spencer both slowly sat down.

Spencer took out his supplies, but Emi noticed that his hands were slightly shaking. It seemed like Ted noticed, too.

"Why are you so nervous?" the man asked.

"I told you. I'm not used to being around guns," Spencer said before getting to work. He took some alcohol and a cotton ball out and rubbed it on the man's forearm.

"This is probably gonna sting a little bit," Spencer warned as he took out a scalpel. He cut a small line where he rubbed the alcohol. He then proceeded to dig his fingers into the cut, "searching" for the chip. After a few seconds, he pulled it out and held up for the man to see.

"I knew it. I knew it!" Ted said, excitedly.

Seeing the man happy, Spencer started to get out of his seat, "I've gotta go to the Higher Authority. I was supposed to-"

"Not yet!" Ted snapped, his foul mood back.

Confusion and a little scared, Spencer sat back down.

Ted pointed the gun at Spencer again. "Turn it on," he ordered.

"E-excuse me?"

"I said, turn it on," Ted repeated, "Turn it on, or I pull the trigger."

"I-I can't turn it on," Spencer told him.

"Why not? Why not?!"

"Because it has to be implanted," Emi answered for Spencer.

"She's right," Spencer agreed before deciding to string some random scientific words together to make some sense, "The chip derives it power form tiny electrical impulses fired between neurons. It has to _be_ in your skin to work."

When he didn't get a reply from Ted, Spencer moved to get up again. "I really gotta-"

"Sit down!" Ted shouted, making the boy-genius to sit down again. "You're not going anywhere."

* * *

The phone rang, but this time, Ted decided to ignore it.

"It's probably the Higher Authority," Spencer said, earning to look from the man. "I told you. I ahve protocols to follow. I was supposed to go right back out there. I-I have rules. You want me to stay, I'm obviously going to stay. But, I mean, you're going to be the one that has to explain it to the Man."

"Why can't you all just leave me alone?" Ted asked in a tired voice.

"Leave _you_ alone?!" Josh repeated, getting up.

"Josh, don't," Emi said, sternly, but she was simply ignored by the man.

"Stay out of this," Spencer told him.

"No. The government _does_ watch us," Josh said, "Y-You got microwaves and satellites. I'm with you, man."

"Do not agitate him," Spencer said through gitted teeth.

"Screw you."

"Dr. Bryar, answer the phone," Emi said in a gentle voice.

"My old man used to have tracking devices in his cars," Josh continued, "He said it's for theft, but it's so he can find out where I go. And what about personal recording in televisions? Y-You don't think someone's monitoring everything you watch? Y-Ya know how many patents are issued for devices to monitor people? Look it up, man!"

"Stop this. It isn't going to help," Dr. Deaton said, getting up.

"What the hell do you know?"

"Ted, he doesn't know what he's talking about," Dr. Deaton said to the man, "He's just a kid."

"Who you calling a kid?"

"Sit down!" Elle snapped.

"Oh, now you're going to tell me what to do?" Josh said, enraged, "He'd only have one gun if you weren't here. I'm with you, man."

"Answer the phone, Dr. Bryar. It's the Higher Authority," Spencer said.

Overwhelmed, Ted got up and shot the gun in the direction of the hostages.

"No!"

Bang!

Dr. Deaton placed a hand over her, now, bleeding stomach. "Teddy..."

"Oh, damn," Josh shouted, catching the fainting psychiatrist, "Damn!"

As Teddy stumbled over to the phone, Emi moved to the injured psychiatrist as fast as she could.

"Give me your tie," she told Harry.

"What?"

Emi let out a frustrated sighed and held her hand out towards Spencer, "Spencer, give me your tie."

* * *

The phone rang for what was the 10th time, but Ted simply ignored it and stared out of the window. As for Dr. Deaton, she was still alive-unconscious, but alive. Emi managed to stop the bleeding, and wrapped the rest of the gauze from the first aid kit around the psychiatrist's stomach.

"Ted, no one on this train is an agent but me-no one else," Emi heard Elle say to the man. "I'm the only one. You can let everybody else go."

"Dr. Bryar, we need to get this woman help," Spencer said.

"Who's going to help me?" Ted demanded.

"The Higher Authorities can help you. They're not what you think," Spencer said. "They're not the enemy. They can help you, Dr. Bryar."

The man didn't say anything, but instead stood up and shot the still ringing telephone.

"Not anymore."

* * *

"It's not gone," Ted randomly said, gaining Spencer and Emi's attention. "Well, you said when the chip came out, it would go away. It's...I still hear it...You said it was the only one, Leo. I can still feel the buzzing. The burning."

"Dr. Bryar," Spencer called out.

"What?"

"Reid," Elle said, when Ted pointed the gun at him.

"It's all right, Elle."

"Is there another one?!" Ted demanded, getting out of his seat.

Spencer let out a breath-filled laugh and shook his head, "You know there isn't. If there were, Leo would have told you."

Ted shook his head and covered his ears, "Make it stop!"

"I know what it's like," Spencer said.

"Make it stop!" Ted repeated, pointing the gun at Spencer once again.

"I know what the voices are like," Spencer tried again, "The voices. They won't stop. They've been talking to you since you were a child."

"You're lying to me," Ted said, weakly.

"That's Leo speaking, not Dr. Bryar," Emi said, joining in on the conversation. She turned her gaze in the direction Ted had been looking at before. "Why don't you let Dr. Bryar think for himself, Leo?"

Ted looked between Emi and the empty space next to him. "Y-You...can see him?" Ted asked, finally lowering the gun.

"Yeah, he's right there," Emi said, "You see him, too, right, Spencer?"

"Yeah," Spencer agreed, looking at "Leo", "Why don't you let him make his own decisions?"

"The voices. They helped you, right?" Spencer asked Dr. Bryar, getting up, "It's where you get your ideas from. While the others kids were outside in the playground, you were inside reading, studying, learning. The voices wouldn't stop. They helped you understand things that other people could never realize and...then as you grew older, it became almost a-uh, responsibility. Am I right? A responsibility to use that ability. To use your knowledge."

"String theory. The Theory of Everything," Dr. Bryar stated, a small excited smile on his face.

Emi gasped, standing up as well. "Then M-Theory, encompassing all the strings, unifying the theories. That's where I know you! I've read your work-well, actually Spencer read it to me and explained it-but nonetheless it's genius! You remember, Spencer?"

Spencer nodded. "You what's funny. Most people say that M-Theory can never be proved because the mathematical tools do not yet exist. But you see it, right? Am I right?

"You can see the different strings unifying the dimensions. The gravitational infinities canceling each other out," Spencer explained, "You-you seem them. Right, Dr. Bryar? You see them because you have the tools."

"Your _mind_ is that tool," Emi realized, "Oh, that's brilliant!"

"Shut up!" Ted suddenly shouted, turning to face he direction where "Leo" was.

"That's right! Tell Leo to shut up!" Emi encouraged, "Don't let him manipulate and control what you do.

"You could do so much in this world, but Leo's holding you back. _He's_ the reason why you were locked up for 9 years," Emi continued. Seeing the realization on Ted's face encourgaged her to continue even more. "All of those years that you could've use to discover or do something great-all of those years wasted because Leo lied and tricked you. You need to get rid of him. Make him leave."

"But how?" Ted asked, his voice cracking.

Emi held out her hand. "Give me the guns," she said, gently. "Give me the guns and surrender."

"But the police-"

"Will _not_ arrest you," Emi finished in a firm voice, "I will make of that. Instead, you will be considered as a psych and have someone watch and take care of you-but it's only to make sure that Leo never returns. You're not going to be locked up. You can go anywhere you want as someone you _trust_ is always with you. Is that okay?"

Nodding, Ted handed the two guns over the girl, who smiled at him.

"Oh, and Harry? If you even think about shooting that gun, I will not hesitate to take you down, despite my injuries," Emi called, not once looking behind her.

Sheepishly, the said man lowered his gun.

"Oh, hey, Gideon," Emi suddenly said, drawing the attention to the man that had just entered the train. "How are you doing this fine day?" Gideon didn't answer, instead looking at Ted.

She followed Gideon's gaze and stared at Ted. "Oh, Ted? Ted's fine. He's unarmed and he surrendered. I promised he wouldn't get arrested, and that he would instead become a psych that could go anywhere he wants as long as he has a field-trip buddy. Can you, Spencer, and Elle make sure that happens please?"

At this point, Emi was just rambling, unsure of what she was saying. "I hope you called an ambulence. There's 3 people in desperate need of medical attention, myself included. Speaking of-If I remember correctly-which I can't really do right now, mind you, Spencer has fast reflexes right? That's good 'cause I'm gonna faint right about...now." On cue, Emi's eyes rolled back and she collapsed into Spencer's waiting arms.

* * *

When Emi woke up, she found herself in a hospital room. Spencer was sitting in a chair, reading a book.

Emi let out a groan to get his attention, "Spencer?"

In a quick second, Spencer was out of his chair and next to Emi. "Emi!"

"How ya doin'?" she asked, giving him a weak smile.

"How am _I_ doing?" Spencer repeated, incredulous, "Emi, you have-"

"Please don't tell me what's wrong with me," Emi interrupted, "I really don't want to know right now. How's Ted?"

"Elle, Gideon, and I made sure he wasn't arrested," Spencer reassured her, "His-as you put it, "field-trip buddy" is gonna be Dr. Deaton?"

Emi raised her eyebrows in surprise, "Really? Even after what happened on the train?"

"Surprisingly, yeah," Spencer nodded.

"Well, whatever makes her happy." Emi winced when she tried to shrug. "I have to admit, I did ship them-still do."

Spencer rolled his eyes, "Only you woud ship people when your in danger."

"Oh, but you love me for it."

"That I do."

"Well, I love you, too."


	7. 1-10 - The Popular Kids

**A/N: As a request from a reader, I inserted the beginning of the Fox (Episode 7) into this chapter. Hope you guys don't mind.**

 **-SingingGeekyBookWorm-**

* * *

 **Review Responses:**

 **ahowell1993: Yes I did. Here you go!**

 **CrystalVixen93, Fairyofthenorthwest, JelloJedi, and kitsuneblackwater: Thank you all so much for your reviews. I'm so happy that you guys love my story! Here's the new chapter. I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

"He's gorgeous," JJ cooed as she stared at the baby in Hotch's arms.

"Thank you," said Haley, Hotch's wife.

"If you find baldness and wrinkles attractive," Spencer said, making a face.

Hotch smirked, "You say that now, but this will be you someday."

Emi snorted, "It's funny 'cause it works both ways. Hotch's saying that Spencer's gonna have a bald, wrinkled baby one day, but when you think about it, Spencer could also become bald and wrinkly when he's old."

Spencer's only response was rolling his eyes at the girl.

"Aww, look at that itty-bitty-witty nose," Garcia cooed. "Don't you want one of these?" she asked Morgan, who just came to see what the fuss was about.

"Mm. I'll stick to practicing," he said, smirking at them before walking away.

"Congratulations," Elle said as she walked past them.

"Thank you."

"Thanks," Hotch said, "She's amazing. I'm a little terrified."

"Well, uh, we should get going," Haley said, taking the baby.

"Pleasure seeing you, Mrs. Hotchner."

"Bye."

"Bye-bye."

"Take care."

After saying their goodbyes, the group split off to do their individual things.

* * *

"Easy there, tough guy. Have some coffee with your sugar," Morgan joked as he joined Spencer in the coffee room.

"I need something to wake me up," Spencer told him, still pouring sugar into his mug.

"Ooh. Late night?"

"Very."

"My man," Morgan cheered as he began to make his own coffee, "You and Emi practicing making babies?"

"Not that kind of late night," Spencer said, rolling his eyes.

Morgan chuckled. "Okay, so tell me. What _does_ keep young Dr. Reid awake-you know, besides a young Emi Hinata. Wait, let me guess. Memorizing some obscure textbook. No, no, no, no. Working on cold fusion. No, I got it. I got it. I got it. Watching Star Trek...and laughing at the physics mistakes."

"Ha!" Emi laughed as she walked past them.

Morgan shot the girl a glare while Spencer simply rolled his eyes.

"Actually, there aren't that many scientific errors in Star Trek," Spencer told the man, "especially considering how long ago it was made. There are certain improbabilities, but not that many outright errors."

Morgan sighed, realizing that the boy in front of him didn't understand that he was joking. "Right."

"Hey, Morgan," Spencer called, stopping the man before he left. "Uh...do you ever have dreams?"

"I'm sorry?"

"I guess...uh, nightmares would be a more accurate description," Spencer clarified.

"Is that what's keeping you up?" Morgan asked.

"I used to get them occasionally, but lately it's like I have them every night," Spencer admitted.

"What are they about?"

"This. What we do." After a few seconds of silence, Spencer looked up at Morgan. "Do you have nightmares?"

"Reid, I'm not sure if I'm the right person for you to talk to about this," Morgan said.

"Why not?"

"It's just, uh..." Morgan shook his head, "Did you ask Gideon about it?"

"No."

"Does Emi know about this?" Morgan tried again.

Spencer opened his mouth to reply before pausing and closing it. He reluctantly shook his head, "No..."

"You should tell them," Morgan said.

Before Spencer could reply, Elle walked over to them, unaware of what she had walked into. "Hey, Hotch wants everyone in the round table room." She paused when she saw Morgan glance at Spencer. "Something up with you two?"

"No," Spencer answered quickly walking past the woman.

Elle gave Morgan a questioning look, but the man just shook his head and followed the boy genius.

* * *

"McAllister. Western slope of Massanutten Mountain in Virginia," JJ stated as soon as all of the agents entered the room, "2 bodies discovered in the woods both with apparent blunt trauma to the head."

"Skeletons?" Spencer asked, looking at the pictures.

"One of them. The second victim was just killed this morning," JJ told him.

"How do we know there's a connection?" Elle asked.

"They were found about 75 feet apart with nearly identical head wounds," Hotch answered.

Emi picked up the now empty file, confused, "Is that really all there is to the case file?"

"There actually isn't one. The sheriffs are on the scene waiting for us," Hotch told her.

"Their location is only a half hour away by plane," JJ informed them.

"What's the rush?" Morgan asked.

"Well, there was evidence on the scene that could cause a bit of a public uproar."

"Hail Satan," Emi muttered dryly as she looked at the picture in Gideon's hands.

At the looks of shock and confusion from the rest of the agents, Gideon placed the picture onto the table to show them that it was of a tree with a pentagram and writing in a red color. "A satanic cult."

* * *

"Are you cold?" Emi asked when she noticed Spencer rubbing his neck for what was probably the 12th time.

"Maybe a little," Spencer admitted, "I forgot to buy a new scarf after that dog stole my only one."

Emi giggled and rolled her eyes. "Well, you _do_ only have an eidetic memory, so I suppose you can't remember _everything_. Here." Emi searched through her go-bag and pulled out a purple scarf. "You can have it. Aren't you lucky that I brought an extra one?"

Spencer smiled at her and hung the scarf around his neck. He couldn't help but relax when he smelled the small scent of Emi's favorite perfume that lingered on it.

At that moment, Hotch walked into the jet's main cabin. "JJ, we need to obviously, keep this out of the press for as long as possible," he said, placing an open file down in front of the said woman.

"I'll do what I can."

"Why is that so important?" Elle asked.

"There was a nationwide scare in the 1980s involving satanic ritual killings and abuse. The Satanic Panic, it was called," Spencer told her.

"Sounds like a band name," Emi commented, "Although, I like the name Panic at the Disco better."

"Panic at the Disco?" Spencer repeated, confused.

"Yeah. Remember Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith, Brent Wilson, and Brendon Urie? They became a band. They're actually really good," Emi said, shrugging.

"I've never heard of them," Elle said, frowning as she tried to remember if she knew that name.

"They're not that well-known yet. They're a Blink-182 cover band," Emi explained, "I went to the same church as Brendon, and when I happened to see him again last year, he told me about the band and invited me to see one of their rehearsals."

"Brendon..." Spencer repeated, "Wasn't he-?"

"That kid 5 years younger than us and from one of those Mormon families? Yeah," Emi confirmed, "Anyways, back to our subject...the Satanic Panic?"

"Right!" Spencer exclaimed before going back into his explanation, "So, it began after the publication of a book about repressed memories being recovered through hypnotherapy. Memories of growing up with devil worshipers who use children in their rituals and ceremonies."

"Most of the claims were later found to be false or just impossible," Hotch added.

"But of course, as always, there are still people who believe in it," Emi chimed.

"True," Spencer agreed, "Actually, numerous therapists accepted the assertions as true and began searching for similar signs in their own patients. After one year, thousands of people reported the exact same repressed memories."

"The bureau conducted an investigation and concluded that most of the ritual killings or abuse were more urban legend than anything else," Hotch said.

"You're saying that there's no such thing as devil worship?" Elle asked.

"Of course there is," Emi said at the same time Gideon said, "Not at all."

"Most "Satanists" are teenagers-juveniles, usually-well, at least the ones that we've seen. They're usually just damaging property, desecrating churches, cemeteries, etc," Emi told Elle.

"To my knowledge, there has never been a proven case of a satanic ritual killing in the United States," Gideon stated.

Morgan, who had just come back from the bathroom, walked over to JJ and picked up a picture from the file in front of her. "Well, maybe there is, now."

* * *

"He was kind of a local hero," Deputy Harris told Hotch as Morgan, Emi, and Elle examined the scene. "A high school football star."

"So a pretty strong kid, huh?" Morgan commented, running down the small hill.

"I know he used to run out here on the mountain all the time," the deputy said.

"That's not easy," Emi said as she tried to walk down the steep hill she had been on. Her attempt failed when her foot got caught by a small hole, causing her to fall forward. "Oof!"

Morgan snorted and went over to help the girl up. "Was he out here running today?"

"He was wearing sweats," Harris said, trying to hide the smile that was fighting to appear on his face.

"So, a crime of opportunity or was the unsub laying in wait for this kid specifically?" Morgan asked, turning to Hotch.

"Unsub?" the deputy repeated.

"Unknown subject. The killer," Emi clarified.

"If it is a cult, do you think they cared who the victim was?" Elle asked.

"Maybe. Maybe not," Morgan replied.

"So we're talking about a blitz attack on a high-risk victim-one who could defend himself-with a weapon picked up at the scene," Hotch concluded, picking up a big rock nearby.

"Disorganized offender. It could be a cult," Elle said.

"The Manson crime scenes were textbook disorganized murder," Morgan said.

"This looks like a heavily traveled area," Elle pointed out.

"A lot of locals walk these paths," the deputy said, "Some tourists, too."

"If you are gonna conduct a ritual killing, would you do it in the middle of a traveled path?" Elle questioned.

"Well, if the other crime scene was a ritual site where the pentagram is, I might blitz the victim here and drag him to the other scene," Hotch said.

"Why didn't they?" Elle asked.

* * *

"Find anything interesting down there?" Hotch asked as he helped pull Gideon up the steep hill.

"Yeah, it does look like some kind of ritual site," Gideon said.

"Have any of you ever heard of the expression "lod" or the acronym "L.O.D"?" Spencer asked, struggling to walk up the hill.

"Lord of Darkness or Lord of Death maybe?" Emi offered, pulling Spencer up.

"Cherish? Cherish?" the team turned to see Deputy Harris holding back a blonde woman.

"Sheriff Bridges!"

"It's okay, Harris. Let her in," Bridges told the man.

"Was Adam Lloyd killed out here?" the woman demanded, making her way over to the sheriff.

"Who told you that, Veronica?"

"Was he? My daughter was with him. They were out running together this morning," the woman inhaled sharply, "Oh, my God. I can't find her. Cherish is missing! Cherish is missing. Help me, please."

* * *

"We're looking for someone who can overpower our victim; abduct a girl from a traveled path without being seen," Gideon told the team.

"It certainly fits with the cult theory," Spencer said, "More than one unsub to control multiple victims."

"But if the attack were ferocious enough a single unsub could, too," Hotch pointed out, "Kill Adam and grab the girl while she's in shock."

"This is some rough country," Elle said as she and Morgan ran down a hill and over to the team, "We only went 1/4 of a mile, and we almost got lost."

"The unsub has to be from this area," Morgan told them, "You don't just stumble onto a place like this."

"JJ, where'd the sheriff go?" Gideon asked.

"He's setting up a search party," JJ answered.

"Tell him I want him to use volunteers from the area. Locals," Gideon told her.

"Do you want him to know why?" JJ asked.

"No, not yet."

"Is it wise to alienate him?" Hotch questioned.

"Well, he thinks we're looking for a monster," Gideon replied, "If we tell him we're looking for volunteers so we can profile who shows up he might call the whole thing off."

Spencer gently nudged Emi to get her attention, "Hey, I'm gonna ask JJ if I can hitch a ride. I need to call Garcia."

"For the "lod" thing?" Emi asked.

"For the "lod" thing," Spencer confirmed, "You wanna come?"

"Definitely."

* * *

"What's happened, John?" a man asked the sheriff, stopping the group of four before they could walk into the station.

"Reverend Paul Burke, this is-" the sheriff stopped and gave the three agents an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, I forgot your names."

"I'm Agent Jareau," JJ introduced herself, "This is Dr. Reid and Agent Hinata."

"They're with the FBI," the sheriff told the man.

"FBI? It's true, then? Adam's dead?" Burke asked.

"Cherish Hanson's missing, too," Bridges added.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Actually, yes. We're putting together a search party. Could you call the congregation?" Sheriff Bridges requested.

"Of course. Of course," the Reverend agreed, "I'll go make some calls."

"Thanks, Reverend," the sheriff thanked before turning his attention back to the agents, "This way."

* * *

"Use any phone, Doc, you just dial 9 to get an outside line," the sheriff told Spencer, "I've got an emergency phone list back here in my office."

Spencer nodded and grabbed Emi's phone to lead her to a nearby phone, but the girl's attention was on a bulletin board and cabinet full of things relating to football.

"Did you play ball?" a voice suddenly asked when Spencer reached over to pick up a football. The couple turned around and let out a breath they had been subconsciously holding when they saw a teenage boy.

Spencer scoffed, smiling at the ball, "No."

"Yeah, I probably wouldn't have, either, if not for my father," the boy said, honestly. "I'm Cory."

"Spencer Reid," Spencer said, briefly shaking the kid's hand.

"I'm Emi Hinata," Emi said, also shaking the boy's hand. As she did, she sneakily handed Spencer a small bottle of hand sanitizer. As a distraction, she stepped in front of Spencer-to block Cory's view of Spencer's hands-and pointed at the boy's textbook. "Who's that?"

"Oh, that's Nietzsche," Spencer said, quickly rubbing his hands with the sanitizer, "" _Thus spake Zarathustra"_ was rather antagonistic of the Judeo-Christian world view for this town, isn't it?"

Cory let out a breathy laugh and set the book down, "I don't think too many people here would've bothered to read it. If they had, they wouldn't understand it. Might as well be a Hawking essay on quark theory."

When Spencer let out a small laugh, the boy looked at him in awe, "Nobody ever got that reference before." He looked around the station, "Is my father around? The sheriff?"

"He's in his office with another agent," Emi answered.

"Agent?"

"We're with the FBI, behavioral analysis unit," Spencer told him.

"Profilers?"

"Bingo!"

"Ha. This is mad cool. I got, like 100 questions I go-" Cory stopped as realization dawned on his face, "Wait. why would FBI profilers be here in McAllister?"

"Um, there was a, um, murder...just outside of town in the mountains," Emi revealed.

"A murder?"

"A girl's missing," Spencer said.

"It's Cherish, son," the sheriff added, walking up behind them.

"Cherish Hanson?"

"We're putting together a search party," his father told him, "I need you to get the rest of the team together and meet us out at the trail about 1/2 mile south of the point."

"Yeah," Cory agreed, "Okay."

* * *

When the time came for the search party, a whole bunch of people-Emi was almost certain that it was the entire town-came.

"I grew up in Brooklyn," Elle said to Emi, Morgan, and Gideon as they watched the people, "You couldn't get this many people out for anything less than free money."

"Well, here come the jocks and cheerleaders," Morgan commented as a group of teenagers walked past them.

"Oh, so you're people, then?" Emi joked.

"Oh, hardy-har-har, so funny," Morgan said, messing up Emi's hair.

"Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention, please?" The sheriff shouted, walking over to stand in front of the four agents. "Now, you're all assigned grid squares to search. Each grid a deputy or an FBI agent. You find anything, do not touch it. Just let your grid leader know. Now, are there any questions?" To that, he got no response. "All right. Everyone get in your group now."

As the groups began to go to their own grids, Emi noticed a girl who seemed pretty nervous. She kept looking over to a certain section. Emi nudged Gideon and gestured towards the girl. Noticing what Emi had seen, Gideon nodded and walked over to JJ.

"You have the sign-in sheets?" he asked her.

"Yeah," JJ said, handing him the list.

"Is Garcia standing by to do background on them all?"

"I got a deputy waiting to take me back to the station," JJ told him, "I'm gonna fax her soon as I get there."

"Good. This type of unsub can't resist injecting himself into a show like this. He's here with us."

* * *

Spencer couldn't help but let out a yawn. After a long day of searching, they were back at the station. During the search, Elle had found a note with blood on it. Emi and Gideon were currently looking over it.

"Tired?" Hotch asked from beside him.

"I'm fine," Spencer replied.

"We all get them sometimes," Hotch said.

"Get what?"

"Nightmares." At those words, Spencer glared at Morgan-who wasn't paying any attention-before turning back to Hotch

"It's not that bad," Spencer told Hotch.

"You want to talk about it, you know where I am," Hotch said giving Spencer a light pat on the shoulder.

"Uh, they're ready," JJ said as she and sheriff walked over to them.

"Okay."

Spencer moved to sit next to Emi, sleepily leaning against her.

"Tired?" Emi whispered.

"A little," Spencer admitted.

Emi didn't say anything but instead shifted so Spencer could rest his head against her shoulder.

"Contrary to popular belief, there has never been a proven case of satanic ritual killing," Hotch told everyone in the station, "Never a verified human sacrifice. Having said that, there have been isolated cases of animal sacrifice...Many, many cases of vandalism in the name of Satan."

"But that doesn't mean that ritual Satanism is impossible," Morgan continued, "More importantly, for our purposes, there have been cults that killed, just not in ritual fashion."

"The Reverend Jim Jones and the people's temple," Spencer said, getting up to take Hotch's place, "His followers killed a U.S. Congressman and 3 people before committing mass suicide and leaving over 900 people dead. And...perhaps the most widely-known of the killer cults, the Manson family under the direction of Charles Manson, killed 9 people in a 4-day period in an, uh, attempt to initiate a race war."

"Killer cults _do_ exist, and they all have one thing in common: invariably they're headed by charismatic megalomaniacs," Elle said.

"You're looking for that leader. He's who will stand out," Spencer told everyone, "He'll be memorable to somebody, people who aren't in his group will see him as strange, weird, scary."

"Since we're dealing with professed Satanists-which is often practiced by younger males-we may be looking for teenagers," Hotch said, taking Spencer's place as the genius went back to sit next to Emi.

"Heavy metal," Emi suddenly said, drawing the attention to her, "Sorry, heavy metal's a type of music. It's the music most commonly associated with satanism. The kids and their leader usually reflect that type of music in their looks."

"Most likely, there'll be sex, drugs, and alcohol," Morgan said, "And the leader, he'll be older. It's part of his charm."

"And he is from this area," Hotch added, earning shocked looks from the townspeople, "He's definitely local."

"These woods are too thick and confusing for a visitor to get around in," Elle said.

"You think one of our own people is doing this?" Sheriff Bridges questioned.

"We're sure of it," Hotch sternly said.

Sheriff started to get up, "I would know if someone was capable of doing-"

"Dad. I know somebody like that," Cory interrupted, "His name's Mike Zizzo. He graduated about 5 years ago. He's in his 20's, but he still hangs out with high school kids. He's got a group of them. They follow him everywhere. They all get high and listen to heavy metal. He calls them the lords of destruction."

"L.O.D.," Spencer said just as he

Emi leaned closer to whisper to Spencer, "I know this is probably the wrong time to say this, but did I call it or did I call it?"

"How do you know this, Cory?" the sheriff asked his son. When Cory refused to make eye-contact, the sheriff gently reassured him, "It's all right, son."

"I've been there, where they hang out drinking beers," Cory reluctantly admitted, "He talks about Satan all the time. Says he's the one true God."

"Technically he's a fallen angel," Emi corrected before sheepishly smiling, "Sorry, couldn't help myself."

"Where is this place?" Gideon asked, ignoring Emi's small comment to save her from embarrassment.

"On the other side of the mountain. The old Jenson house," Cory told him.

His father sighed, "It's out of my jurisdiction."

"Not ours," Hotch said, signaling his team to follow him.

* * *

As the team got into their SUVs Emi noticed a figure from the corner of her eye. She turned her head and made eye contact with the girl that had been nervous during the search party.

"Gideon," Emi called softly, still maintaining eye contact with the girl.

Seeing her, Gideon closed the car door he had just opened. "Emi and I aren't going on the raid," he told Hotch.

"What's up?" Hotch asked.

"I don't know yet."

* * *

Emi and Gideon followed the girl into the church, taking a seat on either side of her.

"Do you believe in God?" the girl asked.

"Excuse me?"

"Do you believe in God?" she repeated.

"Yes," Gideon said while Emi nodded in agreement.

"How about the devil?"

* * *

"You two are FBI agents, aren't you?" the girl asked.

"Is there something you want to tell us?" Gideon questioned back.

"Do you think God is vengeful?" she asked, not answering the man's question but instead looking at Emi.

"I don't know," Emi admitted.

"You don't think he punishes us?" the girl asked, her voice trembling.

"After Hurricane Katrina, I read some essays by religious scholars," Gideon said, getting the girl's attention, "One writer said God was punishing America for its immorality. New Orleans was a wicked city, like Sodom and Gomorrah. Another one-a priest from New Orleans-he thought the hurricane was proof of God's love."

Emi nodded, "I see it. Those levees didn't break until after the storm was over, right? If they'd broken any sooner, thousands of people would've died."

The girl looked back and forth between them, still confused. "So...?"

"I guess the answer to your question depends on whether or not you think you have something to be punished for," Gideon finally answered.

The girl looked at them, her eyes filling with tears, "My friend Cherish...She's missing...And it's my fault."

* * *

"I've got to give the sheriff a report," Deputy Harris told Spencer and Morgan, "You guys need anything?"

"Coffee would be nice," Spencer admitted.

"He takes about a quart of sugar in it," Morgan joked.

Spencer rolled his eyes at Morgan's retreating back. "2 teaspoons is fine," he told the deputy.

"You got it."

"Morgan," Spencer called, following the man. "You knew I didn't want you to tell Hotch about my nightmares."

"Reid, that's something they need to know about," Morgan said.

"What do you mean 'they'?"

"Hotch and Gideon."

Spencer threw his hands into the air in disbelief, "You told Gideon, too? What, did you tell Emi, too?"

"No, _she_ needs to hear this from _you_ ," Morgan said giving Spencer a stern look, "And it's okay if they know, kid."

"What if they think I can't do my job?" Spencer questioned, "What if they want to pull me off the team?"

"They won't," Morgan said.

"Oh, yeah? How do you know that?" Spencer snapped.

"I just do," Morgan simply said.

"You had no right, man," Spencer said, enraged, "I-I confided in you. You know, this is exactly what I get when I trust someone that isn't Emi-"

"But you didn't even tell her," Morgan pointed out.

"-It gets thrown back in my face," Spencer finished, shooting the man a glare.

Morgan stared at him, silent. A few seconds later, he sighed. "Mine started 6 months after I got into the BAU," he admitted. At Spencer's shocked expression, Morgan nodded grimly. "Yeah. Mine.

"We were working a strangler case in Montana. Four victims. Me, I was still pretty young at the time so you know, I was feeling myself," Morgan told Spencer, "I was cocky, I was arrogant. The locals, they didn't have anything, so I stepped up. I said I can nail down a profile for you just as soon as I can get what need."

"More victims?" Spencer guessed.

"Mm-hmm. She was found the next day So I went down to the scene to do my thing. And as I was looking over the body, that's when I saw them." Morgan looked up from the ground and stared at Spencer. "Her eyes, Reid. They were wide open. And there was something different about them it was like they were looking right at me. Like she knew. I asked for a victim. Well, here she was.

"That's when they started for me," Morgan continued, "Night after night I would fall asleep and I would see those eyes. They were dead eyes. Accusing eyes. And it got to the point where it was happening even when I wasn't asleep." Morgan let out a shaky breath. "Reid, everywhere I went, I saw those eyes."

"What did you do?" Spencer asked timidly.

"Gideon," Morgan said, "He knew. I didn't tell him. I was like you. I didn't want anybody to know. He just...he knew. And he sat me down and he just kind of talked me through it. I still have nightmares to this day, just not nearly as often. But when they come back, I know how to handle them better."

"What did he say?" Spencer asked, but before Morgan could answer, a car drove up to them.

Morgan stepped forward, about to pull out his gun, but he stopped himself when he saw that it was just Cory.

"Did you find her?" Cory asked, getting out of the car, "Cherish?"

"No."

"Did Zizzo say anything?" Cory asked, looking around.

"We don't know. We've been here the whole time," Morgan told him.

"Cory, calm down," Spencer said as Cory started marching towards the doors to the house.

"How am I supposed to calm down?" Cory questioned, "Cherish is missing. Did you check all over?"

Spencer nodded. "We searched the whole house.

"What about the outbuilding?"

"Outbuilding?" Morgan repeated.

"Did you check the other area? Back in the woods?" Cory asked, gesturing towards the area.

"I didn't know there _was_ another area," Morgan said cautiously.

"Yeah, it's like a sluice structure or something," Cory said, "He took me there once. It's this way."

"Let's go," Morgan whispered to Spencer before following the boy to wherever he was going.

* * *

"The skeleton under the tree, he died a year ago," the girl-whose name Emi and Gideon had learned was Brandy Dreifort-told them, "He fell off the trail, cracked his head open. He was just some tourist or something."

"How do you know that?" Gideon asked.

"We went to see the body all the time," Brandy admitted. "We watched it decompose?"

"'We'?" Emi repeated, asking for clarification.

"Everybody, the whole group," Brandy clarified. "At first, we were just curious, you know? We would go, a couple of us at a time, show each other. None of us had ever seen a dead body before. And then it kind of became our thing. Something that we had that our parents didn't know about. It was ours."

"This was a human being," Gideon said.

"I told you...that we're being punished," Brandy sobbed.

* * *

"It's up here," Cory said, leading the two agents to a building, "This is their secret place."

Morgan turned on his flashlight. He shined it around until it landed on a certain sign. A pentagram with the letters "L.O.D." underneath it.

"Reid?"

Spencer nodded, confirming that it was the same sign that was painted on the tree in the picture.

"I can't believe this is happening," Cory said as Morgan began to walk up the stairs of the building. "This kind of thing doesn't happen in McAllister."

"You said you read the profiling books. You know bad things happen anywhere. Anywhere at any time," Spencer said, looking down at the boy.

After a few minutes of searching the building, Morgan came back out, a solemn look on his face.

"She in there?" Cory asked, running up to the man, "Is she all right?"

"Cory..."

"She's in there," Morgan said, walking past Spencer and Cory.

"Is she dead?" When he didn't get a response, Cory shook his head, "She can't be dead..."

* * *

Emi sped-walked towards the interrogation room where Zizzo and her team was. When she got there, Emi took in a deep breath before opening the door.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt," she said, poking her head through the doorway, "But, uh, Gideon and I...We need to talk to you...all of you."

* * *

"Reid, I want you to go to the house and see if the deputies have come back," Morgan ordered.

"What?"

"We need the sheriff and the crime scene team here," Morgan said.

"But-"

Morgan cut the genius off, giving him a stern look. "Reid. Do it."

* * *

"I've been with Brandy Dreifort," Gideon said as he, Emi, Hotch, and Elle walked with the sheriff into his office. "Do you know her?"

"She's a friend of my son's," the sheriff said.

"She's a friend of Cherish's, too," Emi added.

"And?"

"Well, they all knew about the skeleton?" Gideon told Sheriff Bridges.

"Who did?"

"Football team, cheerleaders," Emi listed, "Everyone."

"They all watched this man decompose like it was a, uh, game for their amusement," Gideon said bluntly.

"What?" Elle said, hint of shock and disgust in her tone.

"As far as I can tell, the only kids in that area who didn't know were Mike Zizzo and the L.O.D.," Gideon said.

"That's ridiculous," Sheriff Bridges denied, refusing to believe it.

"Sounds impossible, it's unbelievable. She told us all about it," Gideon said.

"Brandy said the guy was a, uh, hiker or something, right?" Emi said, looking at Gideon for confirmation.

Gideon nodded, "You probably have him listed, missing people somewhere."

"Jason, how do you and Emi know the L.O.D. wasn't involved?" Hotch questioned.

"Well, she said the pentagram and the candles they weren't there a few months ago," Gideon told him.

The sheriff didn't want to believe it. "Which means?"

"Someone wanted us to believe there were Satanists here," Emi said.

* * *

"Reid tells me you've read all the profiling books," Morgan said

The corners of the boy's mouth lifted to a small smile. "Actually kinda hoping to be one of you guys someday," he admitted.

"Are ya? So then you know what profilers do?"

* * *

"The unsub likes to inject himself into the investigation," Gideon explained, "That's what this type of killer does."

"Who gave us Zizzo?" Emi questioned, "Who knew all about him?"

"You're talking about Cory?" the sheriff asked, getting mad.

"It was convenient, wasn't it?" Gideon retorted, "Lucky we had a kid right in the room who could tell us where the L.O.D. was. a group of fringe kids nobody in the town would like."

"But-"

"You called us here to advise you," Gideon interrupted, "My advice would be to get in front of this before your son hurts himself or anybody else."

The sheriff didn't say anything, instead, he let out a shaky breath.

"You know where he is, sheriff?" Gideon asked.

"He went up to the Jenson house to see if your guys found anything on Cherish."

Emi let out a quiet gasp, "Spencer and Morgan are out there..."

"Hey, sheriff," Deputy Harris called, walking into the room, "Did you open the gun locker?"

Bridges shook his head, "No."

"Someone did," Harris told him, "There's a revolver missing."

* * *

"Hey Morgan, no one's up there," Spencer said as he walked back to Morgan and Cory.

"Get over here."

"Reid! Reid!"

Suddenly, as he walked in between Cory and Morgan, Cory grabbed him, putting a gun against his (Spencer's) cheek. Morgan was in front of them, pointing a gun at Cory.

"This got all messed up," Cory said.

"Don't be stupid," Morgan growled.

"She wasn't supposed to be with him," Cory said, "It was his run. He runs it every day, not her."

"Cory, listen to me. We can fix this," Morgan told him slowly, "But you've got to let Reid go."

"I never meant to hurt her," Cory protested, "But make no mistake, I will shoot your boy right now."

"No, you won't," Morgan denied.

"Tempt not a desperate man," Cory said. "Put the gun down."

"Okay, all right. You win," Morgan said, raising his hands in surrender.

"Drop it. Drop the gun!" Cory ordered.

"Okay. Okay. You win," Morgan said, letting his gun fall to the ground, "I'm putting the gun down. You're in control, Cory. Let him go."

"For the evil is man's best force. Man must become better and eviler," Spencer suddenly said loudly.

"What?"

"That's what this is about, right?" Spencer asked quickly, "Zarathustra? The Superman? There's no moral obligation for killing someone if you're superior to them? But Nietzsche was speaking metaphorically about evolving as a species."

"You're just a horny kid who wanted to get rid of the cheerleader's boyfriend," Morgan taunted.

"No!"

"Yes!"

Cory removed the gun from Spencer's cheek and pointed it at Morgan, "That was never my intent-" Spencer used this as an opportunity to push the boy off him.

"C'mon!" Morgan shouted, tackling both Spencer and Cory. Struggling, Cory blindly shot the gun-hitting nothing-causing Morgan to punch him in the face.

When Cory finally gave up, Morgan turned to look at Spencer, "You all right?"

"What happened?"

"Him bringing us down here was way too much of a coincidence," Morgan answered.

"No, I got that," Spencer said, "But did you have to tackle us both?"

"You're welcome, Reid," Morgan muttered, shaking his head.

Hearing the police sirens, Morgan got up, pulling Cory up with him. "C'mon. Let's go, Cory."

"Spencer!" the said man looked up to see his girlfriend running over to him, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Spencer groaned, allowing Emi to help him up, "Probably bruised, but fine."

* * *

On the jet, Spencer sat couch, staring blankly out the window in front of him. His girlfriend was laying down beside him, her head on his lap.

"Reid," Gideon called, drawing the boy's attention to him. He took out his wallet and showed Spencer a picture of a happy family.

"Deborah Louise Addison," he told Spencer, "Her husband Tim. The kids are Amber and Keith. Eight and six. In 1985, Deborah Louise was walking home from school. She was abducted. She was 13. We profiled the unsub, and we were able to locate her before he harmed her. She writes a letter to the BAU every year. She updates us on her life."

"It's nice," Spencer said, "but-"

"We all have bad dreams," Gideon continued, "Everyone on the plane. Who wouldn't?" He gestured towards the girl on Spencer's lap. "Does Emi get nightmares?"

"Huh?" Surprised, Spencer looked down at Emi, "Um, yeah, sometimes, but I'm always there for her..."

Gideon nodded understandingly, "We hunt the worst of humanity, we see the depths of depravity, we dream of monsters."

"In my dream, there's a, uh, baby in the middle of a circle and...and Emi's on the other side. And I can't get to her before, uh-" Spencer trailed off and looked back down at Emi, gently pushing a stray piece of hair out of her face.

Gideon watched him with a small smile on his face. "Every night I look at Deborah...helps me to go to sleep thinking of the victims we've saved. We don't always beat the monster to the babies but we do enough to make the job worth it keep the nightmares bearable."

With those words, Spencer and Gideon sat in comfortable silence.

"And Reid?"

Spencer looked up from his girlfriend, "Yeah?"

Gideon gave him a gentle smile, "Let Emi help you. A comfort from a loved one does more help than comfort from a picture."

* * *

 _He was in a dark room. It was completely silent until Spencer suddenly heard the cries of a baby. Looking around blindly, Spencer kept searching for the source until he a circle of candles and in the middle of it, a baby._

 _"Spencer!" Spencer tore his gaze away from the baby and looked up. On the other side of the circle was a tied and beaten up Emi._

 _"Emi!"_

 _Emi let out a shrill scream when a mysterious figure suddenly came up from behind her and plunged a knife deep into her thigh._

 _"Emi!" Spencer shouted again, running towards her._

 _"Spencer...Spencer...Spencer!"_

"Spencer, wake up!" The 24-year-old genius bolted up from his bed, breathing heavily. He looked around frantically only relaxing when he spotted his girlfriend beside her and pulling her into a tight embrace.

"Was it another nightmare?" Emi asked, her voice slightly muffled by Spencer's shirt.

"Yeah," Spencer nodded before he realized what she had said, "Wait you knew?!"

Emi scoffed, "Of course I knew. I'm your girlfriend, stupid. I sleep next to you _every_ _single_ night. Did you really think I wouldn't feel you tossing and turning or hear you shouting? I mean I know I'm not a genius like you, but I'm not stupid."

"Sorry," Spencer mumbled.

Emi pulled herself out of Spencer's embrace and cupped his cheeks. "Don't be afraid to tell me when things are wrong. I will always be there for you; you know that, right?"

"I know," Spencer said leaning down so their foreheads were touching.

Emi brought her hand out in front of him, her pinky out. "Promise me if there is anything, and I mean _anything_ that bothers you or...or if you just need somebody for anything...promise me you'll come to me."

Spencer smiled at her action and linked his own pinky with hers, "I promise."

* * *

 **A/N: Woo-hoo! I finally updated! Happy birthday to me (July 29). It may take me a while to update again because of SAT prep and school starting as soon as SAT prep's over (I have to take my SAT after the second day of school TT^TT). So I'm sorry if you guys wait long. Please be patient with me! I think I'm gonna do "What the Fresh Hell?" (Episode 12), skip to Riding the Lightning (Episode 14), then skip to Somebody's Watching (Episode 18), and then The Fisher King: Part 1. If there are any episodes or scenes you want me to do, just ask (Unfortunately, I'm not going to do all of the episodes, so please don't ask something like that). Any who, if you can, please leave reviews. I love reading them-especially long/detailed ones.**

 **-SingingGeekyBookWorm-**


	8. 1-12 - What the Fresh Hell?

**Review Responses:**

 **ahowell1993: As much as I would love to make Emi prevent Spencer's Dilaudid addiction, I feel like his addiction plays an important role in his character development and such. As for Spencer and Emi eloping in the Fisher King, I have something else in mind.**

 **CrystalVixen93: Thank you for the birthday wishes, and here's an update!**

 **Guest: Thank you, too, for the birthday wishes, and I also love the interactions between Derek, Spencer, and Emi. They're really fun to write.**

 **Fairyofthenorthwest: I hope your phone's better now, and thanks for the birthday wishes. I will definitely keep writing because it makes me (and hopefully my readers) happy.**

* * *

"What I don't understand is how he still managed to look like a 12-year-old after 100 years."

Emi let out an exasperated sigh, "Spencer, it's a kid's cartoon show. There's obviously going to be some things that can't be explained."

Spencer shook his head, "But still-"

"What are you two going on about?" Elle asked as she walked over to them.

Morgan, who had been listening to their argument the entire time rolled his eyes, "They're just arguing over some stupid show."

Emi glared at the man, "It's not some _"stupid"_ show. _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ is an absolutely brilliant show."

Morgan snorted, "It's for kids."

"And it has an excellent plot and lesson for them," Emi argued.

Spencer turned towards Elle and gave her an awkward smile, "Emi has been obsessing over this show for the past year. She finally convinced me to agree to watch Season Two with her when it airs, but she's making m/e watch the entire first season first so I'm all caught up."

"It would be pointless to watch a sequel season without knowing the events that lead up to it," Emi said stiffly.

"I heard 'sequel season'. What are we talking about?" Garcia asked, joining the small group.

"Morgan and Emi are arguing over this show called _Avatar_ or something," Elle explained with a shrug, "Morgan thinks it's stupid, and Emi seems to be personally offended."

Garcia let out a dramatic gasp, "Derek Morgan, how could you? And to think, that I loved you. _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ is one of the greatest kid's cartoons ever created!"

"Thank you!" Emi exclaimed, moving to stand next to the blonde computer whiz, "Finally, someone who understands."

"Let's go," Garcia said, linking arms with the small Asian, "I don't think I stand to be near these cartoon haters any longer."

"Agreed," Emi said, and with that, the pair began to skip away.

* * *

"Oh, my God, Garcia, these flowers are beautiful!" Emi exclaimed when she and Garcia saw the bouquet of flowers on the blonde's desk. "And there's a card. What does it say?"

"Oh, my bejeezus!" Garcia squealed, "Listen to this, 'I know I can be challenging, but your work is appreciated. J. Gideon'!"

" _Gideon_ sent them?" Emi gasped, "No way."

"Yes way!" Garcia said, excitedly, "I'm gonna go tell him thanks."

After Garcia left her "lair", Emi examined the flowers, touching them lightly. "Flowers though? That's a little out of character for Gideon..." Emi muttered to herself, "It might have been Hotch actually..."

"Hey, Emi, you coming?" Garcia called.

"Yeah, be right there," Emi replied back, hurrying after her blonde, computer-whiz friend.

* * *

"Thank you for the flowers," Garcia said as she entered Gideon's office, Emi following behind. "'I know I can be challenging, but your work is appreciated. J. Gideon'," Garcia read from the card in her hand. "I appreciate the appreciation. And btw-you're not challenging. Well, no, you're totally challenging. But you're not challenging at all in a bad way. Sir."

Emi quietly giggled when she saw the confused look on Gideon's face-something that Garcia didn't notice. It faded away when she noticed the many, many framed pictures on the drawer across from Gideon's desk. Garcia seemed to have noticed it, too.

"Hey, is this your family?" Garcia asked.

"Yeah. Sort of," Gideon said.

"Sweet," Garcia said, smiling. "Thanks again for the flowers." She turned around and left Gideon's office, walking past JJ. "Hey."

"Hey," JJ said, walking into Gideon's office, a little confused. "Flowers?"

Gideon shrugged before turning towards the small Asian woman that was still in his office. "What the hell does 'btw' mean?" he asked her.

Emi laughed. "It's the Internet's short way to say 'by the way'," she explained. "You didn't send Garcia those flowers, did you."

"No," the man confirmed before turning his attention back to JJ, "You need something?"

* * *

"Missing child in Wilmington, Delaware," JJ told the team as they sat in the conference room, "11-year-old Billie Copeland was last seen on the playground at 4:30 yesterday afternoon."

"What?" Emi gasped, taking the file that JJ offered her. "But that's...um..."

"20 hours ago," Spencer supplied.

"Child abduction response plan says we get notified immediately," Hotch said, "What happened?"

"There was reason to believe she was with her father," JJ explained, "Her cell phone shows a call to him around the time of the disappearance."

"So they've since ruled him out?" Gideon asked.

"He called the mother about an hour ago," JJ told him.

"That doesn't mean he isn't involved," Gideon said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"He's on his way to the family home, so you can talk to him there," JJ said, 'But the local police are now considering this a stranger abduction."

Morgan sighed, "20 hours late."

"Long-term stranger abductions of children Billie's age are rare," Spencer stated, "They represent only of one percent of all missing cases per year. But they are usually more likely to be fatal. Of the children that are abducted and murdered-"

"44% die within the first hour," Emi muttered along with Spencer.

Spencer glanced at her before nodding and continuing, "From that point forth, their odds of survival greatly decrease. 75% are gone after 3 hours. Virtually-"

"-all of them are dead after 24 hours," Emi finished, solemnly.

"Which means we have just under 4 hours to find her," Hotch said.

"Shall we go?"

* * *

"She's been missing 21 hours," Spencer informed them as he, Emi, Gideon, Elle, and JJ got out of the SUV.

"We're gonna go meet with the lead detective at the park where the girl was last seen," Hotch told Gideon.

"We need to know everything that's been done," Gideon said.

"I'll find out what the press is running, see if I know any of them. We may need to manage what they put out," JJ told him.

"Good. See what the uniforms know from the Canvasses," Gideon ordered, "Emi, I need you to be a liaison with the family. Elle, you help out if you can."

"A liaison?" Elle repeated, confused.

"In a child abduction, the parents are likely to break down if we aren't careful," Gideon explained.

"Okay."

* * *

" _We're looking for a while male in his 30s who drives a green SUV. If anyone has seen anything suspicious, we have a hotline set up at the Wilmington Police Department. Billie Copeland is an 11-year-old girl. The last time she was seen, she was in a blue track suit and a blue soccer uniform-"_

Billie's mother, Marilyn Copeland, shut the TV off, and Emi could tell that the mother was trying her best not to burst into tears.

"They've been running that over and over again for the past 2 hours," Mrs. Copeland said sadly, "The press wants to talk to me. I just-I don't think I can face it."

"You don't have to right now," Emi said soothingly, "For right now, I would like for you to try your best to tell us what happened."

"Um..." Mrs. Copeland fiddled with her hands as she thought back to what had happened, "I was focused on practice, and...Billie was...being a pain, as usual, she was giving me attitude. So I told her to run it off. I sent her away."

"Shh...shh...just let it out. Don't hold it in," Emi said, bringing the woman into a hug.

"How long have you been divorced?" Elle questioned as an attempt to veer the conversation towards a slightly different direction.

Mrs. Copeland sniffled, "Um...It's been final for 6 months. But we haven't lived together for over a year."

"You seeing anyone?" Elle asked.

Mrs. Copeland let out a watery laugh and shook her head. "Between work and Billie...when would I have the time?"

"Not one date?" Elle pushed, "Any men coming over to the house?"

"I-I had a few casual dates after work, but they never come to the house," Mrs. Copeland told them, "Billie still hopes that her father and I will get back together."

"How did Billie's dog die, Mrs. Copeland?" The three women turned to see Gideon in the doorway.

"Uh...it was hit by a car 2 weeks ago," Mrs. Copeland answered, confused, "How did you know that?"

Gideon made a small pointing gesture towards Billie's room. "Shrine in the room. Helps her grieve?"

The mother nodded, "Her father did that for her."

"They get along well?"

"Best of friends. She calls him every night, tells him about her day, asks about his," Mrs. Copeland took a shaky breath, "He's a cancer survivor. So he takes time off from work, pulls her out of school for father/daughter field trips. Says we all need to stop and enjoy life. But he forgets that he has responsibilities-that they both do. Which makes me the bad guy.

She blames me for the divorce. Blames me for everything," at this point, Mrs. Copeland was tearing up again, "I should have just let her go with her father-I'm sorry." She brushed a few tears that leaked before rushing out of the room.

"She's pretty fragile," Gideon softly commented once Mrs. Copeland left the room.

"Well, I mean, her daughter was kidnapped," Emi pointed out, "and that itself would make most mothers emotional, but for her last moments with her daughter be a fight, that amps the emotional wreck-ness by like 40% at least."

"Can you imagine what that feels like?" Elle said, sadly shaking her head.

The sound of a car's brakes screeching to a halt drew the attention of the three agents to the window. Driving onto the driveway was a pick-up truck, and as soon as it stopped, a man came out, storming towards the house.

"Welp, Mr. Copeland's here," Emi told her fellow agents.

* * *

"I have been calling you all night!" Emi, Elle, and Gideon awkwardly stood and sat in the living room as Mrs. Copeland yelled at Mr. Copeland in the next room.

"I'm sorry, Marilyn. I turned my phone off-"

"How could you turn your phone off?!" Mrs. Copeland shouted, "What if Billie got sick or-" she trailed off she realized what she was about say was already happening. "We needed you..."

"I said I was sorry..." Mrs. Copeland simply shook her head and hit her ex-husband when he tried to bring her into a hug.

With a sigh of defeat, Mr. Copeland walked into the living room where the three agents waited. "What's being done to find my daughter?"

"We're assessing that right now," Elle told him.

"She's been missing since yesterday! What the hell have you people been doing since then?!" the man shouted.

Emi fought back the sarcastic retort that came into mind and tried to tell Mr. Copeland gently, "We're doing the best we can-"

"Well, it's obviously not enough if you haven't found my daughter yet!" he interrupted, causing Emi to flinch.

"Where have you been, Mr. Copeland?" Gideon asked calmly to divert the man's attention away from the, now, timid girl.

"Me?"

"Where were you all day and all night?" Gideon questioned again.

"I have a cabin in Brandywine Valley."

"The police tried you there," Gideon countered.

"Well, maybe I was out at the time," Mr. Copeland retorted.

"Billie tried your cell phone yesterday afternoon," Gideon said.

"Well, I shut it off sometimes," Billie's father said, making sure to make eye contact with Elle and Emi as he said this, "I like the solitude."

"You didn't fight your wife for custody of your daughter," Gideon stated in confusion, "But you...you like being in her life."

"I want her to grow up in her home with her friends around," Mr. Copeland said throwing his head back in exasperation, "This is the only place she's ever lived."

"So you love her very much," Gideon concluded.

Mr. Copeland stared at the agent in disbelief. "Yes."

"Why do you waste any precious time we have left?" Gideon questioned, getting only a confused look from the father. "You weren't at your cabin. You weren't at work or with friends. Police didn't call us until a little while ago because they thought your daughter might have been with you, that you might have taken your daughter.

"Until you can give us a satisfactory accounting of your whereabouts from the time your daughter went missing until-" Gideon couldn't even finish as he shook his head in disbelief. "Would you help me understand why a devoted father who talks to his daughter every night suddenly turns his phone off, disappears for almost 24 hours?"

Mr. Copeland looked down in hesitation. "I was...busy," he finally said.

Gideon sighed and glanced down at his watch, "It's 1:30. You called your wife at 11:30, found out Billie was missing."

"So?"

Emi's eyes widened in realization. "Brandywine Valley's only 15 minute away," she said.

Gideon nodded in agreement, "But it took you 2 hours to get here, so where were you, Mr. Copeland?"

"I-" Mr. Copeland looked between the three agents in the room before reluctantly admitting, "I was at Sloane Kettering Hospital, in New York City. Dr. Baylan Mahal is the head of oncology. You can call him if you want."

"We will," Gideon said before nodded at Emi.

Knowing what Gideon meant, Emi got up from her spot on the couch. She quickly exited the room, pulling her cell phone out to make the call.

* * *

"I called Sloane Kettering and they confirmed that Mr. Copeland was indeed there," Emi told Gideon as they walked onto the front yard to meet up with Hotch, Morgan, and Detective Russet.

"Good," Gideon said to Emi before turning his attention to the three people walking towards them, "What do we know?"

"We talked to a kid who had contact with the unsub," Hotch told him.

"Came back to the same street more than once," Morgan added.

"Tells us he's at ease in the neighborhood," Hotch said just as Spencer and JJ joined the group.

"He lured Billie with a story about a lost dog," Morgan said.

"She recently lost one of her own," Gideon told them.

"That indicates previous knowledge of the victim," Spencer said.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean she actually _knew_ him, knew him," Emi countered, "Just that he's aware of what goes on in neighborhood. Who does what or who has what."

"It's not uncommon for predators like these to know kids that live around his area," Spencer agreed.

"You said the unsub's at ease in the neighborhood, right?" Emi asked Hotch rhetorically, "If you're comfortable enough to try the same street twice and confident that you won't seem suspicious? He's definitely from the neighborhood."

"Then we go door to door and ask for voluntary searchers," Detective Russet said.

"The neighborhood's already crawling with uniform," Spencer pointed out in disagreement, "They're everywhere."

"Look, so far you followed the child abduction response plan to the letter," Gideon said.

"For the past few hours, yes."

Emi shook her head. "The problem with that is that it's been 21...22-"

"21 hours and 55 minutes," Spencer supplied.

Emi snapped her fingers and pointed them at her boyfriend. "Yeah, that. Anyway, that response is for when the abduction happens right away. It's useless now. We need to change tactics."

"What?"

"Yes," Gideon agreed. "If we don't, Billie isn't gonna make it past the next 24 hours." Gideon looked at the group of reporters, pointing at them as he spoke to JJ. "I want you to corral these clowns. We're gonna need 'em-all of 'em."

* * *

"Billie Copeland has been missing 22 hours. It is vital that we locate her in the first 24," Gideon said to the officers in front of him.

"The unknown subject in this case is most likely a resident of one of the subdivisions around the park," Hotch continued, "We have canceled the amber alert. We need to coordinate with all your officers to pull everyone off the street immediately.

"That's crazy," one of the officers said.

"Just hear me out," Hotch told him, but the man didn't listen.

"But it goes against court procedure," the man protested, "You guys wrote the damn thing."

"Carp is just a guideline for immediate response to child abduction," Spencer told him, "Believe it or not, we're already late in the game."

"Billie has been missing for 22 hours, that is long past the immediate response mark," Emi said, "And from all of the information we've managed to gather about the unsub, we _do_ know that if he feels like we're closing in on him in any way, he will _kill_ Billie to avoid any hint of detection."

Spencer nodded in agreement, "If anything, we need to _lessen_ the pressure on him."

"The man fits in. 'Cause nobody knows what he is," Gideon said, "Can we really know our neighbors? He walks his dog, does yard work. Solitary activities appeal to him. But if you watch closely you'll see he pays a little too much attention to the neighborhood kids. Largely goes unnoticed because he isn't perceived as a threat."

"He's a white male, in his late 20s to 30s," Hotch said, "He has a menial or temporary job, socially marginalized and frustrated. He relates better to kids than he does to adults."

"This isn't his first offense against children, but it _is_ his first abduction," Elle said.

"How do you know that?" Detective Russet asked.

"Those who abduct for the first time tend to hunt closer to home because it's more in their comfort zone," Emi explained, "Those who are more experienced hunt in a more public place because they're more confident and know that it's harder for the law enforcement to locate their homes."

"And he's had a recent stress or a job loss or other setback," Hotch said, continuing with the profile, "unable to maintain a normal relationship, he'll have extensive pornographic materials in his home and on his computer. And while they won't all involve children, some of them definitely will."

"Since he used the missing dog ruse and we believe him to be a regular fixture of the neighborhood, it's quite possible that he truly does own or did at one point own a dog named Candy," Spencer said.

"He will not inject himself into this investigation," Hotch added.

"Don't these guys like to know what the cops know?" Russet asked.

"Not this type of unsub," Gideon said, "He's hiding. He doesn't what anyone saw. He's know if there's any kind of information about him out there. It's unlikely for him to walk in and ask us..."

"'Can I help you?'" Emi supplied.

Gideon nodded. "Yes. That's unlikely to happen, but I can guarantee you he will be watching the news. So how we handle them is very important."

"Check your canvass records," Hotch instructed, "One of you may have had contact with him in the early stages."

"What about registered sex offenders?" the lead detective asked.

"We've got somebody working on that right now," Hotch told her.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen, everyone clear on that?" Gideon asked, "Good luck. Thank you."

* * *

"You took all the police off the streets?" Mr. Copeland asked Emi and Elle in disbelief.

"We believe your daughter was abducted by someone in the area, and that she's probably still nearby," Elle explained.

"Then shouldn't you be flooding the area with cops, knocking on doors?" Mr. Copeland questioned.

Elle shook her head, "It's not that simple."

"Yes it is," Mr. Copeland said, swallowing a pill.

"You're taking the meds again," Mrs. Copeland realized.

Mr. Copeland ignored her and continued to question the two agents. "Look...what exactly are you people doing to help get my daughter back?"

"You're sick again, aren't you?" Mrs. Copeland said.

"Like we told you before, we're taking the police off the streets," Emi explained to the parents, "Doing so will take the pressure off the man who took your daughter. If we add even more police, it will only make the man panic and mostly cause him kill Billie sooner then he planned. You understand this, right?"

Mr. Copeland clenched his teeth but nodded.

Emi let out a silent sigh of relief. "Good. And I'm really sorry to do to you, Mrs. Copeland...but we'd like for you to meet with the press," Emi requested, sending Mrs. Copeland an apologetic look, "Both of you, actually."

"Press conference," Mr. Copeland repeated, "That's what you have? You just said you're already taking the press that's running off the air."

"I know," Emi said, "But this is different. Please trust us, Mr. Copeland."

Just then, the doorbell rang, drawing the attention of the four people in the room.

"I'll get it," Mrs. Copeland sighed, but before she could get up, Mr. Copeland patted her hand and got up.

"Just tell Marilyn what you need us to do," Mr. Copeland told Elle and Emi before walking to the door.

"That was his second remission," Mrs. Copeland said, thinking back to the pills that her ex-husband had taken.

"We're sorry," Elle said.

"Billie won't even talk to me anymore," Mrs. Copeland said, "How am I gonna tell her that her father's sick again?"

"One thing at a time, Mrs. Copeland," Elle told her.

Emi nodded in agreement, "First, we need to focus on finding your daughter. Once we do, you'll figure it out."

"Can I help you?" they heard Mr. Copeland say.

"Mr. Copeland, I'm Helen Godfrey from a few blocks away," they heard a woman say, "I have printouts on all the sex offenders in the area. I think if you just...look at any of these-"

"What the hell?" Elle said when they saw Mr. Copeland grab the papers and rush to his truck.

"Mr. Copeland?" Emi shouted as she and Elle ran out of the house. "Mr. Copeland, stop! You can't just go after them!"

But it was too late. The man had already started his truck and drove away.

"There are sex offenders in the area," Helen Godfrey told the two agents, "I thought he should know."

"Stupid," Elle muttered.

Emi couldn't help but roll her eyes as she pulled her phone out. "Hotch, we have a problem."

* * *

"A body?" Emi repeated in horror. She glanced at Billie's parents, who were waiting in another room to see if Dennis Jones wanted to press charges against them.

" _Yeah_ ," Spencer said from her cell, " _They found it in a river._ _Gideon, Russet, and I are on the way there now. They think it might be Billie._ "

"Oh, God, I hope not," Emi said, rubbing her eyes, "The Copelands are already a mess right now. This woman showed with a list of sex offenders and Mr. Copeland thought it would be a great idea to attack the first guy on the list-Dennis Jones."

" _Seriously_?" Spencer said in disbelief, " _But he's on the list because of prostitution._ "

"Yep," Emi confirmed, "But of course, you can't tell from the list that that crazy woman found. Now, we're waiting in the office while Hotch is seeing if Jones wants to press charges."

Just as she said that, Hotch entered the room, giving her questioning look when he saw her on the phone.

"Speak of the devil and he will arrive," Emi said lightly into her phone, "Hotch just came out, so I gotta go. Love you."

" _Love you, too_ ," came Spencer's reply before Emi ended the call.

"Was that Spencer?" Hotch asked her as she walked over to him.

"No, that Morgan," Emi said jokingly, causing the said man to snort, "I just confessed my love to him."

"Because you definitely need a phone to talk to the person in the same room as you," Elle said sarcastically, causing JJ to scoff in amusement.

"Oh, but of course," Emi said, "How else am I suppose to talk to someone in the same room? Face to face is so five minutes ago."

Emi, Elle, JJ, and Morgan all laugh, but just before they reached Billie's parents, they went back into serious mode.

"Mr. Jones isn't interested in pressing charges," Hotch told the parents.

"Am I supposed to be grateful? The bastard's a pedophile," Mr. Copeland snapped.

"No, he isn't," Hotch said.

"Did you check up on him? Did you ever search his house?" Mr. Copeland questioned.

"His sex offense was soliciting a prostitute," Morgan told him, "It had nothing to do with children."

"But he's registered on-"

"Mr. Copeland, please," Emi said, tiredly, "There are many, many ways to get on that list. There's a reason why it's labeled a 'sex offender' list, not a 'pedophile' list."

"That's why accessing that type of information is supposed to be left up to law enforcement," Morgan added.

"We understand your frustration and your anger, but you're jeopardizing our efforts to save your daughter's life," Hotch said, bluntly, every minute spent chasing you is time we're not spending on Billie. So either get control of yourself and follow our directions or stay out of our way."

After a few seconds of looking at her ex-husband, Mrs. Copeland turned to look at the agents. "What would you like us to do?" she asked.

"Make a public appeal for information regarding a _witness_ driving a dark green SUV," JJ explained.

"Isn't he supposed to be the suspect?" Mr. Copeland asked in confusion.

"Yes, but when people hear suspect, they can't see the guy next door as a monster," Hotch told him, "They can't imagine their neighbor could do something like this."

"If he's a witness, he might be a hero," Elle said.

"Okay, but what if he thinks it's a trick?" Mrs. Copeland pointed out, "What if he panics or thinks it's too risky, and then he-"

"It's not just him that you'll be speaking to," JJ interrupted before Mrs. Copeland could finish her dark thought, "It's his neighbors as well."

"We've done everything we can to relieve the pressure on this man," Morgan said, "We've taken the cops off the street. You won't have any standing with you on the dais. Only a local minister."

"Hearing he isn't a suspect might calm him down as well," Hotch added, "Right now he's under enormous stress and we need him to believe, even if it's just for a little while, that we're way off the mark, that we're not close to arresting him."

At those last words, Mr. Copeland looked up. "Are you?" he asked, "Close to arresting him?"

"We need the public's help," Hotch said.

* * *

"Okay, can I have everyone's attention?" JJ called, making the room of reporters fall silent. Emi, Elle, and Morgan all stood on the side, watching over the press conference.

"Please, if you could just take your seats," JJ continued, "The Copeland family is here to make an appeal. As you all know, their 11-year-old daughter Billie is missing. So if you could just have a little compassion and patience." Once she finished, JJ stepped off the podium to let the Copelands get on.

"Yesterday-ahem-Yesterday, at approximately 3 P.M., my daughter-our daughter-Belinda Copeland-Billie-went missing from the recreation center," Mr. Copeland said, "We are looking for a man, a witness, in a green SUV. There have been some reports that he is a suspect, but that was a mistake. He's not suspected of anything. We would like this man to come forward and tell us what he knows. We need your help. He may not even understand how important what he saw is. So anyone with information about this individual or his green SUV, please call the tip hotline. Thank you."

With those last words, the reporters started shouting, hoping to get more words from him. "Mr. Copeland! Mr. Copeland!"

Ignoring their calls, Mrs. Copeland stepped closer to the mic. "We'd like Billie to come home now," she said, her voice breaking, "It'll be dark soon. Thank you."

"So the body located by the police earlier today is not Billie's?" a reporter asked loudly.

Shocked and confused Mr. Copeland turned to look at the agents, "What?"

"The female body-" the reporter tried to clarify, but he was interrupted by JJ.

"There'll be no more questions. Thank you," she said sharply.

"What body?" Mr. Copeland asked.

"This press conference is over," JJ said, "There'll be no more questions. That'll be all for now."

Of course, the reporters ignored her and continued to throw questions at the Copelands, their cameras flashing.

"Come this way, Mrs. Copeland," Emi said, stepping onto the stage to lead the Copelands into another room.

"What are they talking?" Mrs. Copelands asked her, "What body?"

"We will discuss this is in another room," Emi said as Morgan also got on stage to lead Mr. Copeland off. "Let's go."

"Is there a body?" Mr. Copeland shouted once they walked into the main station room.

"Please just come us," Elle requested.

"Tell me right now-Did you find a body?" Mrs. Copeland questioned, stopping where she was.

Morgan gently placed a hand on her shoulder, "Mrs. Copeland-"

"Did you find Billie?" Mrs. Copelands asked, her eyes brimming with tears, "Is my daughter dead?"

Emi sighed. "Yes, a body was discovered," she admitted.

"It's not Billie." Everyone turned to see Gideon, Spencer, and the lead detective walking into the room. "The body found was much older and has been dead a number of days. Looks like maybe a junkie or an overdose."

"Are you sure?" Mr. Copeland demanded.

"Yes, I saw the body myself," Gideon reassured him, "It's not your daughter."

"Oh, thank God," Emi muttered, falling against Spencer who had walked over to her.

"My, God, I can't-" Mrs. Copeland sobbed, "I can't..."

"Please just come with me right now," Elle said, leading the Copelands away.

"What the hell was that about?" Gideon asked as soon as the Copelands were out of earshot.

"A reporter asked them about the body," Morgan explained.

"Probably heard it on the scanner," Hotch said.

"I should have prepared them for that," JJ said, dejectedly.

"We don't have anything to tell them yet," Gideon told her.

"Billie's running out of time," Spencer said.

"So are the parents," Hotch added.

"Stop!" Emi shouted, "We cannot lose hope, yet."

"That's right," Gideon agreed, "We'll make it. We'll make it."

* * *

"Hey," Emi said softly as she opened the door to the room the Copelands were sitting in. She walked over and sat next to Mrs. Copeland, rubbing her back soothingly. Gideon entered the room and closed it before sitting down in another chair.

"How we doing?" he asked.

"All her life...when my little girl needed help, she came to me. And now, when she needs me most...there's...nothing," Mr. Copeland said, blinking back tears before getting up and leaving the room. Gideon also got up and went to follow him.

After the door closed, Mrs. Copeland turned to look at Emi and Elle. "When he got sick...he said he didn't want to make us watch him die," she told them, "He wanted the divorce. And I let her believe that it was me because... I don't know. It seemed better than the truth that he was running away from us. So I lied to her."

"I think that was very brave of you," Emi said, smiling at her softly.

Elle nodded in agreement, "That's an incredibly courageous sacrifice."

"Except now he's sick," Mrs. Copeland said, "And all I have left is a daughter who hates me."

* * *

"Hey, Spencer, what's up?"

" _We may have just found our unsub,_ " Spencer told her from her phone.

"No kidding?"

" _No kidding. 1106 Springfield. The man's name is Don Curtis._ "

"1106 Springfield. Don Curtis," Emi repeated loudly for Gideon and Hotch to hear. "Got it. 'Kay, thanks Spence. We'll be there in a few minutes."

" _Okay. Bye._ "

"Spencer and Morgan think they may have found our unsub," she told Hotch and Gideon as they walked over to her, "1106 Springfield. Name's Don Curtis."

"That's not far from here," an officer told them.

Gideon nodded, "Good. Emi, you can come with us. Tell Elle to stay here with the parents."

"Got it."

* * *

"Third house down on the right," Morgan told the three agents as they walked over to him, "We knocked on the door, but nobody's answering."

"His neighbor said he's definitely in there," Spencer added.

"He's got a green Ford Explorer in the garage," Morgan said.

"Break down the door," Gideon ordered.

"No. We don't have probable cause," Detective Russet denied.

"He's got a green SUV. He had a dog that died recently. He spends time in the park," Morgan listed.

"Pretending he's not home," Hotch added.

"None of which are illegal," Russet countered, "No judge is going to sign a warrant based on that information-"

"You're weighing the life of a child against the price of a door?" Gideon snapped.

"I'm weighing the law against the price of a door," she countered.

"The girl's in the house right now. The longer we stand here and wait, the longer he has to finish her off," Gideon stated.

"I'll call a judge," Russet said, pulling out her phone, "If we go in there without a warrant, all that evidence will get thrown-"

"There's no time!" Emi exclaimed.

"We're aware of the rules of evidence," Hotch said, "What do you propose that we do?"

Emi eyes widened when she noticed Gideon running towards the house. "Gideon?!" she shouted, running after him. Seeing those two agents run, the rest of them started running, too.

"Gideon!" Morgan shouted when he saw Gideon run towards a potted plant, "Gideon, wait a minute!"

"Gideon!" Emi shouted, "Gideon, you need-"

But it was too late, Gideon had already grabbed the pot and smashed it against a window.

With a sigh, Morgan kicked the front door open, running in. "Federal Agents. FBI!"

Emi followed him before going down a different hallway, Spencer following her. They cautiously continued down the hall until a man suddenly appeared in front of them.

"Hold it!" Emi shouted, holding the gun to the man's head. "Where is she?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," the man stuttered.

"Don't you lie to me!" she snapped, cocking her gun, "Where. Is. Billie. Copeland?"

"Please don't hurt me," the man begged.

"Emi," Spencer said cautiously, "Emi, please."

The girl gritted her teeth before grabbing the man's shirt, throwing him behind her, "Morgan, get him out of here.

"Tear this place apart!" Gideon ordered.

* * *

"Just as we expected, he has an extensive collective of deviant photos and cartoon downloads," Spencer told Gideon.

"Partitioned in separate folders?"

"Mm-hmm." Emi confirmed, staring at the computer screen in front of her with disgust.

"Access the internet history," Gideon ordered, "Identify any pornographic sites, shut 'em down."

"We're uploading to Garcia as we speak," Spencer told him.

"What is this?" Gideon asked as he went through the books on the shelves, "Is this all porn?"

"It's a lot of home movies with a bunch of kids in it," Morgan answered, "This one-you need to see it."

Emi couldn't bear to watch it again so she turned her head away. Unfortunately, that couldn't stop her from hearing what was going on.

" _Shh,_ " Curtis said from the TV, " _Remember what I'll do if you tell._ "

Emi couldn't help but shiver. Those words sounded so much like what her old step-father used to tell her.

 _"Shh_. _" 11-year-old Emi trembled in fear as the man trailed his hands up her thigh. "Be quiet. Remember what happens if you tell anyone."_

"-mi. Emi." Emi snapped out of her memories and turned to the man who had called her. "Yeah?"

Spencer gave her a look of concern, "Are you okay?"

Emi did her best to muster up a smile as she nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it." She turned her attention to Gideon. "Gideon, we searched everywhere in here. There's no sign of Billie or that she's even been here."

"It is possible that he moved her," Spencer said, "Polly Klaas was found 25 miles from home, Danielle Van Damme 30, Samantha Runnion, 52. But keep in mind...we were 20 hours late getting involved."

"Man doesn't take chances. He wouldn't drive around with a girl in the car," Gideon said, "He took her, got her off the street as quickly as possible. Just keep looking."

* * *

"Curtis lawyered up," Hotch said as he walked into the living room.

"Of course he did," Emi groaned, burying her face in her hands.

"That's the first smart thing he's done," Gideon said.

"We broke into his house, and without Billie, we don't have the exigent circumstances we need to make this stick," Hotch said, "We may have to let him go."

"I told you we should have waited," Russet said.

When Emi looked up from her hands, the first thing she noticed was the broom. There was something about that didn't seem right. There was a lot more dust on it than it needed to be. As Hotch, Russet, and Gideon discussed on what to do, Emi slowly got out of her seat and made her way over to the broom.

"Emi?" Gideon called, noticing what the girl was doing.

She picked up the broom and took a ball of dust off it. Holding it out to Gideon, she said, "This is a lot of dust for a broom, and there seems to be some fluffy stuff, too."

Gideon felt it with his hands for a few seconds then looked back up at her. "Insulation."

Her eyes widening, Emi rushed down the halls. As she did so, her attention was on the ceiling, looking for an opening. After turning the corner, her eyes landed on an air vent.

"There it is," she whispered, running to the spot under it. "Can someone get me up here, please?"

Hearing her request, Hotch grabbed a chair from one of the nearby rooms. "Here."

"Thanks," Emi said, grabbing the chair and placing it under the vent. She climbed onto the chair and used her hands to unscrew the screws. Once the vent was down, she grabbed the sides and pulled herself up and into the opening. Looking around the dark area, Emi spotted the missing girl tied. up in a corner.

"She's here!" Emi called down to Hotch and Gideon. She quickly crawled over to the girl and began to untie her.

"Hi, Billie. My name's Emi," she said, removing the gag from Billie's mouth. "My friends and I are going to take you home to your mommy and daddy. They've been very worried about you."

"I wanna go home," Billie sobbed.

"I know, I know, sweetheart," Emi said soothingly, "Let's get you home, then."

Bringing the girl into her arms, Emi slowly brought Billie over to the opening.

"Gideon! Hotch! She's coming down," Emi called, "Be careful of her arm."

After getting back down, herself, Emi made her way over to the living room. She sat down onto the couch, relieved. Seeing her, Spencer also walked into the living room, taking a seat next to her. Feeling his presence, Emi leaned into him, and without her knowing, a few tears of relief leaked and slid down her cheeks.

* * *

The BAU team was now on their jet, flying back to Quantico. Emi, Spencer, Morgan, JJ, and Hotch were all playing a fun game of poker.

"I got absolutely nothing," Morgan said in defeat.

"Aw, nothing," JJ groaned.

Spencer sucked in his breath. "2 pair...of aces," he finished with a smug grin.

"Oh, get outta town!" Morgan shouted, "Why you always winning? Nuh-uh!"

"'Cause he cheats," JJ said.

"Poker? It's a mathematics, it's statistics," Spencer said, causing Morgan to mock him.

"He's from Vegas," Hotch simply said.

"House rules," Morgan chimed.

"There's that. Too," Spencer admitted.

"Oh, but you guys forget, I'm also from Vegas," Emi said, finally revealing her cards, "Straight Flush."

"Oh, no. Come on! Why did I agree to play poker with Vegas kids," Morgan groaned, earning laughs from everyone else.

"All right, shuffle," JJ ordered.

"Hey, Hotch," Gideon called, gaining everyone's attention.

"Yeah?" Hotch replied.

"Did you send flowers to that tech room girl...Garcia...and say they were from me?" Gideon asked.

"Yeah." Emi couldn't help but smirk. She totally called it.

"Why?"

"Jason, people need to know that they're important, and sometimes you forget that," Hotch told him.

"Well, I already sent her a gift," Gideon said, "An MP3 player. They last longer."

"Unless you drop them or the battery dies," Emi quipped, "You know, whichever comes first."

Gideon nodded, "True."

"So she got 2 gifts," Hotch said.

"What if she thinks I'm sweet on her?" Gideon questioned. Elle, who was making her way to her seat, stopped behind Gideon when she heard him say that. She made a face of disagreement causing everyone in front of Gideon to laugh.

"Hey, what's that?" Morgan asked, pointing at the stuffed dog on Emi's lap.

"Oh, this? Billie gave it me," Emi said, smiling down at it, "She said it was a thank you gift for saving her. She's a cute kid."

Spencer made a contemplating face. "Do you want to have kids?" he asked.

Everyone fell silent and stared at him.

"Wha-what?" Emi stuttered in shock.

"I-I don't mean _now_ , but like maybe in the future?" Spencer clarified, "I mean, like in general. Doesn't have to be with me-I mean I'd like it if it were with me. It would be kind of awkward if you had a child with someone else while we're together. But I meant like even if we weren't together, would you like to have a child-but I mean with whoever you were with. Not that I don't want us to split up-"

Emi laughed at Spencer's rambling, "Spence, relax. I get what you mean, and yes, I would have kids someday."

Morgan whistled, "Woo, you here that, Pretty Boy? You better start practicing."

"Morgan, shut up!" Emi shouted, throwing a pillow at the man. It hit him smack in the face, causing everyone to laugh.

"Okay, okay, settle down, children," JJ laughed, "Let's get back to playing poker."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hooray an update! Next up is...Unfinished Business! Please, if you can, leave a review. I love reading them!**

 **-SingingGeekyBookWorm-**


	9. 1-15 - Unfinished Business

**A/N: Teehee. Because I won't be doing Episode 17 and skipping straight to Episode 18, I decided to insert a fun little scene at the end.**

* * *

"So, what should we do for date night?" Emi asked Spencer as they walked down the busy streets.

"We could do the same thing we did last time," Spencer suggested.

"So grab coffee then go home to watch a movie?" Emi said, "Sure,why not. What movie?"

"I think the fourth Harry Potter movie is finally out on DVD," Spencer said, "We can rent it and watch it tonight."

"Yes!" Emi cheered.

Spencer smiled at her and had opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by Emi's phone ringing.

"Hold that thought," Emi said, answering her cell. "Hello?"

 _"Emi, I'm sorry to interrupt your night, but we have a case,_ " Hotch said through the phone, _"Morgan and Elle are on their way, and Gideon's already at the Quantico with Max Ryan._ "

"Max Ryan?" Emi repeated in confusion, "Who-actually, never mind. I'm sure Spencer will explain to me. We'll be right there. Bye Hotch."

" _Bye_."

Emi sighed and turned to her boyfriend. "Looks like date night's cancelled."

"We have a case?" Spencer asked in a disappointed tone.

Emi sighed again, "Yeah, and Gideon brought some guy named Max Ryan with him-"

"No way!" Spencer shouted, getting excited, "You mean, _the_ Max Ryan?"

"Uh, I'm just gonna nod my head yes because I have no idea who this guy is," Emi said, nodding.

"Max Ryan was a brilliant profiler who solved a lot of cases," Spencer exclaimed, "I'll explain on the way."

* * *

Emi and Spencer had arrived at Quantico at around the same time Elle, Hotch, and Morgan did. They were currently getting out of the elevator and were all walking to the conference room where Gideon and his friend, Max Ryan, were waiting.

"So they've been here all night?" Morgan asked.

"Apparently," Hotch said.

"Where else would any of us be on a Saturday night?" Elle said sarcastically, "It's not like we have lives or anything."

"Speak for yourself," Emi scoffed.

"Guys, we are about to meet Max Ryan," Spencer said, excitedly, "The guy responsible for catching the Boise child killer. Hotch, have you ever talked to him before?"

"He's pretty intense. Brusque, not much of a bedside manner," Hotch replied.

"Sound like anyone else we know?" Elle commented.

"I heard he was forced into early retirement," Morgan said.

"No, he chose to retire," Hotch corrected.

"He's written a new book on the Keystone Killer case," Spencer told them.

"He moved to Philadelphia to be closer to the crime scenes," Hotch said.

"Damn, that's dedication" Emi muttered to Elle.

"That's retirement?" Elle said in disbelief.

"BAU style," Morgan replied with a shrug.

* * *

"' _Who in his mind has not probed the black water?_ '" Spencer read from the projection as they joined Gideon and Ryan in the conference room, "John Steinbeck, 'East of Eden.'"

"Story of good and evil," Gideon said, handing the genius a plastic bag with a piece of paper in it. "Love and hate."

"There's been some new activity on the Keystone Killer case," Ryan told the arriving members.

"New?" Elle repeated.

"He was at Max's lecture last night," Gideon explained.

"What? He got away?" Morgan said in disbelief.

"Would we have woken you up if we caught him?" Ryan retorted.

Emi saw Morgan make a face at Ryan's response and couldn't help but feel a certain distaste for this man herself.

"He handed this letter to the security guard," Gideon said.

"And he included 2 driver's licenses with it," Ryan added.

Gideon pressed a button on the controller and 2 licenses popped up on the screen. "One of his last victim-"

"Last known victim," Ryan interjected.

"Amy Jennings," Gideon finished, "Strangled in 1987." He then turned his attention to the couple who were muttering to each other as they looked at the word search on the letter. "You two found something?"

"Actually, yeah..." Spencer said, his eyes still scanning for more words.

"Um, does 'black bra' and 'grey wool socks' mean anything?" Emi said, tilting her head to the side.

"That's what Amy Jennings was wearing when we found her," Ryan answered.

"That's a lot of details to remember for 20 years," Morgan commented, "The Green River Killer couldn't remember where the bodies were buried much less what they were wearing."

"Some unsubs take pictures, print them themselves, so they can manipulate the scene, bring it to life," Hotch explained, "That would explain the level of detail."

"Does 'no fight' and 'rear window' have anything to do with the Jennings case?" Spencer asked.

"No. He entered in through the front door. There's ample evidence that Amy fought him very hard," Ryan told him, "No, he's referring to a new victim there."

"The second driver's license," Elle concluded.

"Carla Bromwell," Gideon confirmed.

"Yeah, there's a 'C Bromwell' here in the puzzle," Spencer stated.

"Philly PD went to the address on the license a little while ago," Gideon said, "Found her suffocated with a plastic bag."

"Suffocated?" Morgan repeated in confusion, "His previous victims were strangled. His M.O.'s different."

"He hasn't been killing all along, has he?" Elle questioned.

"It would have been difficult to tie these new murders to the Keystone Killer, what with the change in methodology, and the time that's elapsed between kills," Hotch pointed out.

"If he'd been active, I would have known," Ryan said.

"It's not entirely impossible for a unsub to switch his M.O.," Spencer spouted, "The Zodiac Killer went from stabbing people to shooting them."

"Yes, but he wanted to take the credit," Ryan said, "This bastard didn't do anything in secret."

At that moment, JJ decided to enter the room. "I'd say good morning, but it's still dark outside," JJ said, dropping a picture onto the table.

"Who's this?" Morgan asked.

"My guess is Carla Bromwell," Emi said

"And you are correct," JJ confirmed. "Gideon can you put on the news?"

Listening, Gideon changed the TV from showing the case information to the news.

" _The Philadelphia Police were notified late last night of a letter that was hand-delivered to this news station,_ " the news anchor reported, " _Apparently it was written by the infamous Keystone Killer who's wanted in connection with the murders of 7 women back in the late 1980s. He also included a photograph of a woman. She appears to be dead in the photo, suffocated with a plastic bag. Now subsequently, Police discovered a body in the Overbrook Area, but they are not confirming that it's the woman in this picture._ "

"How the hell do they find all of this information so fast?" Emi wondered aloud.

"Who knows," Elle said with a shrug.

"Meet you on the plane in 30 minutes," Hotch said, getting up from his seat.

"I'm coming with you," Ryan told Gideon, "I'm not asking Jason."

"Uh, let's go grab our go bags, Spence," Emi said, pulling Spencer out of the room.

"Can we stop by the bookstore?" Spencer asked, "I want to buy Max Ryan's new book."

* * *

The team and Ryan were now on the jet. They were all crowded around Morgan and his laptop-excluding Spencer and Emi. The couple were both seated on the seats behind Morgan. Spencer was reading Ryan's new book and Emi was lying on his lap, reading along.

"Philly PD confirmed that Carla Bromwell's been dead less than 12 hours," Garcia said through Morgan's laptop, "She was 47."

"Victims are getting older," Hotch realized.

"That is unusual," Morgan commented.

"Victimology rarely changes," Elle said.

"Her hands and feet were bound with flex-cuffs," Garcia added.

"Flex-cuffs?" Ryan repeated, his face contorting in confusion, "No rope?"

"That's what they said," Garcia said, "They're waiting at the crime scene for you."

"Thank you, sweetheart," Morgan cooed.

"Here if you need me," Garcia said before ending the video call.

"So, older victims and a different mode of binding and killing," Hotch stated.

"Maybe the note just means we have a copycat on our hands," Morgan suggested.

"A copycat who just happens to have Amy Jennings' driver's license?" Ryan scoffed, "No. No, it's the Keystone Killer."

"It was just an idea," Emi said from Spencer's lap, "I understand that you want to catch the unsub, but you didn't have be shoot down Morgan's idea so harshly like that."

Ryan looked at the girl in distaste. "And what exactly are you doing?"

"Um, I'm reading, sir," Emi said, feeling a little uneasy at the tone he had just used.

"Are you usually this friendly with all your co-workers?" Ryan questioned.

"What?" Emi then realized that he was referring to her laying in Spencer's lap, "Oh, no. Spencer's my boyfriend. We've been together for five years."

"Five years," Ryan repeated. He then turned to Hotch, "Did you hire this girl?"

"Yes," Hotch said, not liking where this was going.

"And are you sure that was a wise idea?"

Emi's mouth in shock and sat up, abruptly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Ryan narrowed his eyes at the girl, "What I mean is that, your relationship with that young man is unprofessional, and you would merely be a distraction to him." With those words said, Ryan walked off to the front of the plane.

Emi fumed, glaring at the man. "'Unprofessional,'" she repeated in anger, "'Unprofessional'?! I'll show him unprofessional."

Realizing that there probably wasn't much he could do to calm her down, Spencer simply pulled her back down onto his lap and placed Ryan's book in front of her to read.

Morgan turned around to glance at Emi and Spencer before leaning close to Gideon to whisper to him. "How are we supposed to work with him?" he demanded, "He was outright rude to Emi and he's not even an active agent."

"He's here because he knows this case better than any of us," Gideon answered, "We're leading the investigation. He's only consulting."

"Anyone tell him that?" Morgan retorted.

* * *

"What do you think of Ryan?" Spencer asked Hotch as they-and Emi-walked up the stairs of Carla Bromwell's house.

"Rude," Emi answered, causing Hotch to smirk a little.

"He hasn't changed much," Hotch said with his own answer.

"I think we can learn a lot from him," Spencer said, looking around the room they were currently in.

"Oh, yes. Sign me up for the next available spot for How-To-Be-Rude 101," Emi said sarcastically.

"I'm serious, Emi," Spencer said, but after seeing the look on his girlfriend's face, he quickly added, "Of course, you don't need to learn anything from him."

Hotch scoffed, "What could you possibly learn that you don't already know?"

Spencer silently thanked Hotch for the slight distraction. "Hotch, repetitive thinking is a death knell for the brain," he said, quickly, "for complete brain usage, diverse stimulation is the key."

"Hey, look. It's another letter," Emi said, picking it up with her gloved hands. She handed it to Hotch as Spencer got an evidence bag out.

"Let's go show this to everyone," Hotch said, sliding it into the plastic bag.

* * *

"Found another note," Hotch told the rest of the team as he, Spencer, and Emi walked over to them.

"' _In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present_ ,'" Ryan read.

"He's quoting Sir Francis Bacon now," Gideon stated.

Ryan shook his head. "I used this specific quote-"

"In your book on page 184," Spencer finished, "I, uh, read it on the plane."

"And you remember the page number and the quote?" Ryan questioned in disbelief.

"Eidetic memory. Spence is just amazing that way," Emi said, giving Spencer a quick peck on the cheek. She let out a tiny smirk when she saw Ryan tense up at the sign of affection.

"It says to expect another gift in 2 days," Hotch said, ignoring what had just happened.

Elle looked at him in confusion. "A gift?"

"He calls his victims 'gifts'," Gideon said, his face twisting to show disgust.

"Gifts for whom?" Elle asked.

Ryan didn't even bother looking up from the letter as he answered, "For me."

* * *

"A lot has changed in 20 years, including the age of the Keystone Killer's victims," Hotch informed the Philly PD.

"He's older, his victims are older-makes sense to me," the detective commented.

"Most unsubs have specific fantasies," Hotch explained, "It's as if they're killing the same person over and over again. This man clearly had a preference for young brunettes, and now he's switched to older women."

"Well, what does that mean?"

"Ted Bundy only killed woman that looked like his fiancee," Spencer stated, "But then he devolved and he brutally attacked a house full of sorority sisters that looked nothing like his previous victims. He went off script. His final victim was a 12-year-old girl. When police found the van that he used to kill her, the amount of blood revealed that he had lost complete control. It was that de-evolution that eventually led to his capture."

"He could be de-evolving into a frenzy," Gideon summarized.

"So you mean he's about to mess up," the detective rephrased.

"The Keystone Killer's de-evolution is only a theory," Morgan reminded him, "We need to be prepared for anything."

"And if he is in a frenzy, there's no telling how quickly he'll fall apart," Hotch added.

"Or how many more victims he'll take with him," Gideon said.

"So we're gonna go over everything we know, old and new, and hopefully find him before we find another body," Hotch concluded.

"We'll start with Agent Ryan's original profile," Gideon told the officers before turning to his friend, "Max, you wanna present it?"

Ryan didn't even hesitate before sharply saying, "No." Emi, Elle, and Morgan all exchanged annoyed looks with each other as Ryan left the room.

* * *

"Alright, let's focus on the differences in the crimes," Hotch instructed as he walked into the conference room where the team was working, "What's he doing that's new?"

"Well, his latest victim was hit on the head, that's new," Elle stated.

"In the word puzzle, he said she didn't fight," Morgan remembered, "So why hit her? To scare her? Show her he's in charge?

"But he's never done that before," Emi pointed out, her eyes never leaving the word search on the second letter. She and Spencer were both standing in front of the board where both letters were taped onto. However, because she wanted to "subtly" annoy Ryan, Emi requested for Spencer to stand behind her. By doing so, they were pressed together and seemed more intimate than they usually were. The team, though they did notice the unusual closeness of the two, never brought it up and carried on with their discussion.

"And a blow that hard wouldn't scare her," Elle said, countering Morgan's previous statement, "Probably just-"

"Probably just knock her unconscious," Morgan finished in realization.

"In order to control her?" Hotch questioned.

"Don't forget that he also switched from using rope to using flex-cuffs," Emi reminded them.

Gideon nodded in agreement, "Yes. The intricate knot was part of his signature."

"Flex-cuffs are easier," Morgan said, "Probably saved him time."

"No, that doesn't make sense," Emi said, shaking her head, "Flex-cuffs were already out when he first started killing. Why would he now start using them?"

Gideon nodded again, "Exactly. The ropes were meticulously tied. It was intimate. Completely unnecessary."

"And he abandoned the rope and the use of his bare hands, which makes his kill less personal, less controlling," Elle said.

Morgan stared at everyone in the room and sighed. "Okay, seriously guys. Let's just abandon all this," Morgan said, tossing his file onto the table, "Let's just treat him like a new offender."

"But he's not," Emi pointed out.

"Guys, I have a name," Spencer said, leaning over Emi to circle the name he had found.

"' _Nibrahs_ ,'" Elle read when the couple stepped away from the letter, "That's a name? From what country?"

"It's backwards," Spencer told her, "' _S Harbin_ '-there was a Scott Harbin on Ryan's original suspect list."

"It's not Scott Harbin," Ryan said, walking into the room, "Harbin went to jail in 1988 for stabbing a guy while he was trying to escape during a home invasion. The guy later died. Harbin didn't even know there was anyone at home at the time he broke in."

"How long did he get?" Morgan asked.

"30 years."

"So that makes him a little more than halfway done," Gideon said.

"Unless he's been paroled," Hotch pointed out.

"No-no, it's too easy," Ryan rejected, "I interviewed Harbin. Twice. He's a pervert. He's a small-time burglar with a fetish for lingerie. I mean, he's a creep, but he is not the Keystone Killer. Believe me, our guy has not been in jail all these years."

Morgan sighed, "Alright, I'm gonna call Garcia. See what she can dig up on this guy."

"He's not the guy!" Ryan shouted, making Morgan stop and look at him.

Emi glanced at Elle and rolled her eyes, to which Elle responded with a nod of agreement and another eye roll.

"And will you two stop being so intimate?" Ryan snapped, turning his attention towards Emi and Spencer who were only standing next to each other with Emi leaning on Spencer a bit.

Emi's eyes widened. "We're just standing next to each other!" she protested, "And besides, the time you are wasting by complaining about what Spencer and I are doing is time that we could be spending finding this guy you are obsessed with."

The Asian agent and the ex-agent glared at each other before Ryan finally turned and walked out of the room.

With a shake of his head, Morgan also left the room to call Garcia.

"Jason, what are we doing here?" Hotch suddenly asked.

"What do you mean?"

Emi scoffed, "I don't want to sound rude, Gideon-really, I don't, but Ryan has been an ass the entire time he's been here."

Hotch nodded. "Is Ryan here to catch the Keystone Killer, or prove that he's right?

* * *

"That's gotta be a first," Morgan said as they walked back into the police station, "A killer actually leading us to another killer." After the team caught Scott Harbin, they found a woman wrapped in syringe wrap in a compartment under his bed. However, when they went back outside, they found a letter for Ryan stuck in one of the SUV windshields-from the Keystone Killer.

"Oh, come on. We all know they make the best profilers," Gideon said, "They admire each other's work."

"Yeah, but usually from afar," Elle countered.

"Well, at least we got Harbin off the street," Hotch said, "Alright, let's review. What do we know about the Keystone Killer?"

"We know that he's not dead or in jail," Elle stated.

"He enjoys the taunting, the game," Gideon said.

"He's in complete control," Morgan sighed.

"He strangled 7 women in the 1980s, stopped for 18 years, and then began again, suffocating them," Spencer listed, "10% of all violent crimes are caused by strangulation. It only takes 11 pounds of pressure to fully incapacitate your victim, and if you hang on for at least 50 seconds, they'll never recover."

"But when you suffocate someone, you actually have less control over their death," Hotch pointed out, "It's actually more passive because the killer doesn't feel the life leaving the body."

"He's changed almost everything that he does," Elle said in disbelief.

"Why? Why? Why? Why?" Gideon kept asking, "What's he getting out of this new M.O.? Where's his payoff? You got Carla Bromwell. She sustains a significant head injury. Blitz attack suggests disorganization, no self-confidence. This is a guy who walks into 7 victims' homes prior to this. There's no forced entry at any of the scenes. Where's the loss of confidence?"

"Hey, you," Ryan suddenly said. Everyone turned to see that he was staring at Emi, who stared back at him with wide eyes. "You seem to be deep in thought. Care to share?"

"Me?" Emi said in surprise. She thought Ryan hated her. Why would he bring her into this and ask for her thoughts? "Um, I mean, I could be wrong, but I mean, ever since we started this case, we've building our profile around the belief that he purposely changed his M.O."

Morgan furrowed his eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

Spencer's mouth opened wide in realization. "You mean, the unsub could have changed because he _had_ to change," Spencer translated.

Emi nodded, her adrenaline running. "Maybe he only knocked her unconscious-"

"-because he couldn't physically control her while she's awake," Spencer finished.

"He could be at the least, partially incapacitated-" Emi started.

"-maybe an injury-" Spencer added.

"-or a stroke," they finished together, smiling at each other.

"Either way, you're gonna have to have medical records," Emi told the rest of the agents.

"This would have to had happened in the middle of 1988 in Philadelphia," Spencer informed them, "But there's going to be a lot of hospital records."

"I'll call Garcia," Morgan offered, getting up and leaving the room.

"I'm going to go get some coffee," Ryan said, turning to leave the room, "And Emi? Good work. I can see now, you and Spencer make a good team."

Emi stared at the ex-agent with wide eyes of shock before breaking out into a grin. "Thank you!"

* * *

"Something debilitating enough to lose strength permanently. I'm still thinking stroke," Hotch said as he, Morgan, and Spencer looked through the hospital records.

"You know, Ryan's profile puts the unsub in his late twenties," Morgan stated, "Isn't that too young for a massive stroke?"

"Technically, you're never too young for a stroke," Spencer informed him, "80% of strokes are ischemic. The other 20% are hemorrhagic, which usually result in death. Ischemic strokes occur when plaque builds up in the arteries causing restricted vessels to be blocked by a blood clot."

"Okay, but doesn't it take years for that type of plaque to build up?" Morgan questioned.

"Uh, typically," Spencer confirmed.

"Well, then like I said, he was too young," Morgan said.

"Did you know that strokes victims that play virtual reality games show significant advances in recovery than those who don't?" Spencer spouted, earning an eye roll from Morgan.

"Here's somebody. In 1987 he was 30, single, dishonorable discharge," Hotch said, gaining their attention.

"That's a good start," Morgan agreed, "What was the injury?"

"Broken neck," Hotch replied, "Uh, intense physical therapy for 9 years."

"What's he been doing since?" Spencer asked.

"Oh, never mind," Hotch said with a shake of his head, "Guy moved to the Florida Keys. He's a scuba instructor. He's got the right idea."

"Did I just hear ' _scuba instructor_ '?" Emi asked as she walked into the conference room with two cups of coffee in her hands.

"Just one of the guys on the list," Morgan said with a nonchalant shrug, "He's a teaching scuba diving in Florida."

Emi made a face while giving one of the cups to Spencer. "I don't think I would ever like to go scuba diving," she admitted, "The deep sea...bleh, it's scary."

"You know-" Spencer started to say.

"Nope!" Emi protested, covering her ears, "I refuse to listen to facts about the ocean blue. It makes me think about the terrible, dark, scary deep and-nope, nope, nope!"

Morgan chuckled. "Come on," he said, getting up and ruffling Emi's hair, "There's gotta be something in these files that can help us find our unsub."

* * *

"Elle is running down injuries on college campuses," Hotch said, "The guy's well read. He may have been a professor."

"There are just too many hospitals, clinics, long-term care facilities," Spencer said, shaking his head, "We'd be sifting through records for weeks."

"Come on. There's gotta be some way to narrow down a search, right?" Morgan asked.

"We've ruled out a stroke, and half the hospitals don't even say how the accident occurred," Hotch said.

"Accident..." Emi repeated, "What about a car accident?

Spencer nodded in understanding. "In America, someone's involved in a car accident once every 10 seconds."

"Car accident with injuries would all be reported by the police," Gideon stated.

"We've profiled him driving a late-model American-made Sedan," Ryan informed them.

"So how about I get Garcia to check Philly PD records for accidents involving American-made Sedans and serious injury?" Morgan suggested.

"It's a long shot," Ryan said.

"But better to be safe than sorry, right?" Emi retorted.

Gideon nodded in agreement, "Start with 1988. If it was an accident, it stopped him in his tracks."

* * *

"Walter Kern had a military background," Morgan told them as he passed out the paper about the suspect. "ROTC in high school, 4 years in the air force."

"Hospital records show that he lost mobility in his right side due to severed nerve damage to his spinal cord," Spencer said as he and Emi looked through the said records.

"He never got the strength back," Ryan stated.

"Kern's been a county worker, a claims adjustor-and get this...he installed home alarms with Scott Harbin," Hotch read.

"Takes one to know one," Gideon said.

"All those jobs allowed him access to people's homes," Spencer realized.

"Explains why there was no sign of forced entry," Morgan said, "He had a legitimate reason to knock on the door."

"Women felt comfortable letting him inside," Gideon agreed.

"He got a degree in criminology from Villanova in 1988," Elle read, "I wonder if he murdered anyone on campus."

"Wouldn't be surprised," Emi scoffed, "And it definitely explains his knowledge of law enforcement."

"This looks like our guy-anybody got a current address?" Hotch asked.

"575 Wight Street, Southeast Philadelphia," Ryan said, "I got you, you son of a bitch. We got him. Let's go bring him in."

* * *

Walter Kern wasn't at his house, and after Gideon and Ryan confronted Walter's wife-who, for a while, protested against the thought of her husband being a murderer before realizing that the agents were right-she sadly let them into her husband's dark room.

"Looks like he collected every article written about him," Ryan said, pointing at the articles tacked onto the walls.

Gideon walked over to a shelf and grabbed a book from it, looking at it before passing it over to Ryan. "He's got your book."

Ryan opened the cover and growled when he saw his signature on the first page. "Damn it! I signed it."

Spencer looked around the room. "Hotch was entirely correct about the photography-his cellar's where he developed his photographs." As he said that, Emi had spotted an album and opened it in curiosity. "What's that?" Spencer asked as she flipped through it, "A scrapbook?"

"Yeah," Emi confirmed, grimly, "And there's a chapter on every woman he's killed."

"These entries are detailed enough to let him relive the kills for years," Spencer stated.

"He has candid photographs of the victims at the park, grocery store, outside of church, driver's license, clothing, jewelry," Gideon listed as he watched Emi and Spencer look through the book.

"There's chapters in the back that are not finished," Ryan pointed out when Emi flipped to a blank page.

"These photographs are at least 20 years old," Spencer noted, "I mean, look at the hairstyles, the clothing..." he stopped short when his mind thought back to the word searches. "His recent themes of communication have been about 'old friends.' 'Unfinished business,'" he remembered, "His car accident was in the Fairmount district of Philadelphia. That's exactly where Carla Bromwell lived."

"He was on the way to kill her when he had his accident," Emi realized.

"It's not about finding a new type of victim. It's about a specific target," Spencer agreed.

"Because he was such a perfectionist, and is a perfectionist, he to finish what he started years ago," Ryan concluded.

"These aren't new victims, Max," Gideon said, "They were already targeted...Right from day one."

"Who's in that last chapter?" Ryan asked, to which Emi responded by flipping to the last filled out page.

"Sylvia Gooden."

* * *

"We believe Walter Kern is in Sylvia Gooden's home now," Gideon told the officers and SWAT members, "Hotch confirmed he left the community center hours ago, and Kern's car is parked on the next block."

"I want Walter Kern alive," Ryan added.

"I'll stand by for the word," one of the SWAT members said.

"Good. Let's move out," Gideon ordered before turning to Emi, Spencer, and Elle," I'll call you when we've secured Kern."

Emi nodded, "Yeah."

* * *

"Did Jason ever tell you about the time that he found the director's itinerary in a bomber's car?" Ryan asked the agents.

"What? What?" Morgan questioned eagerly.

"Max, come on, come on," Gideon groaned.

"No, no, he never said anything," Morgan said.

"Well, let me fill you in, then," Ryan told them, "We had this bomber case. It was one of Jason's first, so we had him go over and search the bomber's car which was in the Quantico garage. Except for me and the guys had planted this piece of paper that had all these times and locations of where the FBI was gonna be over the next 48 hours."

At this point, Morgan was already chuckling, knowing where this was gonna go. Spencer and Emi shared looks of amusement with each other before grinning at Gideon.

"Anyway, Jason takes one look at this piece of paper, and before we could stop him, he takes off, runs up 25 flights of stairs," Ryan continued.

Morgan shook his head in disbelief, "Get out of here..."

"To the Director's office, barges in, interrupting a meeting with the attorney general himself," Ryan finished, joking patting Gideon's knee.

"Yeah," Morgan cheered, also slapping Gideon's leg.

"The Director didn't find it very funny," Gideon said.

"He was the only one who didn't," Ryan chuckled.

Emi laughed and checked her phone for the time. "Hey, do any of you guys want to get Chinese food when we get back?"

* * *

They-including Garcia, whom Emi also invited-were all now sitting at a table in one of Emi's favorite Chinese restaurants.

"Can you pass the moo shu, please?" Gideon requested, pointing at the bowl next to Morgan.

"Oh, you have to try their dumplings," Emi said, gesturing towards the plate near Ryan, "They are amazing."

"Don't mind if I do," Morgan said, plucking a dumpling off of Emi's plate.

"Hey! Not from mine," Emi whined, "There's an entire plate full right in front of you."

"Morgan, don't pick on Emi," JJ chided.

"Sorry, Mom."

"Why don't we do this often?" Garcia wondered, "Us all eating together-it's nice. It's like we're one big family."

"Because we always end up fighting over who pays for the bill," Hotch reminded her.

Emi giggled when she saw Spencer's failing attempt at eating with chopsticks. "Do you need some help, Spencer?" she whispered.

"No, no. I got this," Spencer insisted, trying to pick up his noodles again to only have them fall again.

Emi bit her lip to keep her from bursting out laughing. "Right..." She turned to stop a passing waiter, "Excuse me. If you don't mind, can I get a fork?"

Letting out a frustrated groan, Spencer let his chopsticks drop onto his plate. This earned laughs from Morgan, Garcia, Elle, and JJ.

"Did you know that experts credit Confucius with the advent of the chopsticks?" Spencer spouted, "He equated knives with acts of aggression."

"You don't know how to use them, do you?" Morgan taunted, grabbing Spencer's discarded chopsticks.

"It's like trying to forage for dinner with a pair of number 2 pencils," Spencer retorted, earning laughs from everyone.

"How are you dating an Asian girl but not able to use chopsticks?" Elle questioned, "Haven't you ever tried to teach him, Emi?"

"Last time I tried, I ended up getting a chopstick tangled in my hair while the other one was somehow flung across the room, stuck in a wall," Emi told her, "The landlady still doesn't know about the hole it created 'cause we covered it up with a painting."

"Here, let me help you," JJ said, taking Spencer's chopsticks from Morgan. She held them together and tied a hairband around one of the ends.

"Oh, the rubber-band trick," Morgan said.

"Yeah, the rubber-band trick," JJ confirmed, "Why didn't you ever try teaching his with these, Emi?"

"I have," Emi said, "It was the very first trick I used."

"Okay, enough about chopsticks," Elle said with a laugh, "We finally have some down time, and I refuse to spend it with talking about Reid and his chopsticks."

"You're right," Hotch agreed, "So, Elle..." A joking smile appeared on Hotch's face, "Are you seeing anyone?"

"Uh, Gideon?" Elle said, hoping that the older man would help her change the subject, "You have any stories or-or anything you want to tell us? Or what about you Ryan? Any more funny stories about Gideon?"

Both Gideon and Ryan shook their heads, smiles on their faces. "No, you go ahead," Gideon said.

Morgan, Hotch, JJ, Garcia, and Emi all laughed at Elle's shocked face. Elle tried to suppress the smile on her face but failed as she let out a loud cough. "So, Reid, how's it going with those chopsticks of yours?"

"Awesome," Spencer said as he watched a piece of his food fall off of his chopstick and onto the ground, "It's absolutely incredible. 1.3 billion people stay nourished using these things."

"Yeah, here's your fork," Emi said, giving him the fork that a waiter had dropped off. She then plucked the chopsticks out of Spencer's hands. "And I'm gonna take that before you poke someone's eye out."

At the sight of Spencer's pout, everyone at the table, once again, burst out laughing.


	10. 1-18 - Somebody's Watching

"Spencer! Spencer Reid! Dude! Look at you!" Emi watched Spencer awkwardly stand there as a man, pulled him into a hug.

Emi and Spencer, along with Gideon, were in Los Angeles, California to give a seminar to the LAPD. They had arrived a few days before the seminar, so they all decided to go to an art exhibit owned by Parker Dunley, one of Spencer's old schoolmates from high school.

"You look just the same! Nothing changed," Parker said before turning to Emi and Gideon, "Spencer was the only twelve-year-old in our graduating class." He looked at Spencer again and shook his head. "Just the same..."

"Thanks. This is Special Agent Jason Gideon and Special Agent Emi Hinata," Spencer introduced, "This is Parker Dunley. We went to high school together, as you can probably gather."

Emi awkwardly gave him a wave, "Hi."

'Wait, weren't you that girl that hung around Spencer the entire time?" Parker gave her a look-over and let out a low whistle, "Damn, you've certainly changed."

"Uh..."

"It's a beautiful gallery," Gideon cut in, changing the subject.

"Thank you, thank you," Parker said, now feeling a little awkward.

"Jason's a big contemporary art enthusiast," Spencer said.

"Well, we're exhibiting four up-and-coming artists in this show. Everything's for sale, and I could definitely swing a nice discount for a friend," Parker told him. At that same moment, a young, blonde woman entered the studio. "Lila, hey. Guys, come on." Parker motioned for Spencer to follow him.

"Do I look twelve years old to you?" Spencer asked Gideon and Emi.

"Fourteen," Gideon said.

"He's just teasing," Emi said, giving Spencer a kiss on the cheek. "You look more like you're ten."

"Hey!" Spencer cried, indignantly, but both he and Emi laughed as they made their way to Parker.

"Spencer, I'd like you to meet a real movie star," Parker said, gesturing towards the blonde girl, who Emi assumed was named Lila.

"Movie star? Please, she has a supporting role on a television series about beach volleyball," the woman next to the actress said. "Totally blue collar."

"I'm Lila," the actress said, smiling at Spencer.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Spencer Reid. Um, I-I'm Spencer, you don't have to call me Doctor?" Spencer stuttered. Emi eyed him, warily, deciding not to comment on it.

"I'm Emi Hinata," Emi introduced herself.

Suddenly, a photographer jumped in and started taking pictures of Lila.

"Excuse me. Hey! I told you! No photos in the gallery," Parker said, chasing him away.

The woman that was accompanying Lila dragged Gideon off to somewhere, and Lila and Spencer started to make their way to a nearby exhibit, completely forgetting about Emi.

"Why is he-No. Don't get jealous, Emi. You have to trust him. Relationships are built on trust, and you trust Spencer. Spencer would never betray your trust. He knows that you love him, and he loves you." Emi couldn't help but feel her heart wrench when she saw Spencer's expression when he looked at Lila. "But then, why is he looking at her like that?"

* * *

Emi was wandering around the exhibits as an attempt to distract herself from Spencer when Gideon rushed past her, grabbing her as he went.

"Gideon? What's going on?" Gideon didn't answer her but instead lightly touched Spencer's shoulders as they walked past. "We're leaving."

"We're still looking at the exhibit," Spencer said.

"Now," Gideon said.

When Spencer didn't make any movement to leave, Emi groaned. "Now, now!" she snapped, quickly walking away so she wouldn't have to hear Spencer's clumsy attempts of saying goodbye to Lila.

* * *

L.A.P.D. PROFILING CONFERENCE

"Today, we thought we'd focus on what is probably the most important component of profiling, or for that matter, any investigative technique: Victimology," Spencer said to the group of police officers in the station. "The word victim stems from the Latin word " _victima_ " which means _"sacrifice."_

"The victims of violent crimes are brutalized by a subject who takes it upon him or herself to decide life or death of a fellow human being," Spencer continued.

"There are around 16 million people in the Los Angeles metropolitan area," Gideon stated.

"Every time a person gets killed, robbed, or raped, the most important question you will most likely find yourself asking is ' _why?'_ " Emi continued. " _Why did your unsub choose this victim at this time?" "Was anything that happened that provoked the unsub to act?" "Or was the victim just chosen because they were easy, available, or weak?_ "

* * *

The profiling conference was over and LAPD decided to take it upon themselves to drive the three members of the BAU to the airport.

"You know, we really can get ourselves to the airport," Gideon said to Detective Owen Kim.

"I didn't invite the FBI here to let them make their own way around town," Detective Kim said.

"We really appreciate it," Spencer said, struggling to carry his bag.

"Hey, I can't thank you guys enough for conducting the seminar," Kim said.

"Well, don't hesitate to call if there's anything we can help with," Gideon said as Kim opened the trunk to the car.

"You got it?" Gideon asked Spencer as Detective Kim's phone rang.

"Yeah," Spencer said, swinging the bag into the trunk.

Emi had just placed her own suitcase into the trunk when the detective finished his call.

"Everything all right?" Gideon asked.

"Double murder at a Hollywood bungalow. A celebrity," Detective Kim said, "A young movie star, Natalie Ryan and her fiancé, apparently shot to death. It's gonna be a major pain in the ass. You guys care to take a quick look before I drive you to the airport? It's on the way."

"Absolutely."

* * *

"No sign of forced entry," Emi noted as they walked through the front door. They walked over to the living room where the victims' bodies were.

"Same weapon," Gideon concluded, looking at the wounds.

"The girl was shot execution style. Once in the head. The male three times in the torso," Spencer said.

"So, you have 2 different MOs."

"We have an image on the video surveillance camera," Kim reported. "Looks like a messenger of some kind wearing a motorcycle helmet. He's unidentifiable."

"There's no sign of struggle between the girl and the unsub from the door to the couch," Spencer said, 'He most likely forced her at gunpoint."

"He told her to trust him. 'Do what I say. I won't hurt you,'" Gideon said.

"Fatal mistake," Kim said, solemnly.

"Mm-hmm. He asked her to sit on the couch and then..." Spencer started.

"...shot her in the head," Emi finished. "The fiancé was an unexpected kill. It's messier. Most likely he came in while the unsub was still in the house, and not wanting to risk it, the unsub shot him. Three times just to make sure."

"It's less controlled, it's less organized," Gideon agreed, before turning to the detective, "What do you think?"

"I've had a couple other cases recently," the detective admitted. "Past few months. Same type of weapon, .22 caliber handgun. Both shot in the head. The first was an established film producer, Wally Melman. And the second was Chloe Harris, another young actress...but not as well-known as Natalie, here."

"Any forensic evidence?"

"No. And the guys have been going through this place all morning and haven't come up with anything."

"So, he clearly knows how to cover his tracks," Gideon said.

"Like a professional hit man?"

"Maybe."

Spencer turned to the window at the sound of cameras. "Gideon, there are people actually taking photographs of us from the next yard."

"Welcome to L.A." Kim said.

".22's are small but efficient," Emi said, ignoring the cameras. "They bounce around in a person like a uh...a uh..."

"Pinball?" Spencer offered.

"Yeah! Yeah, that. It's also the preferred weapon of the mafia..."

"You know, there's no obvious sexual component to these crimes, which is usually the case with serial murders," Spencer said.

"So, are you thinking this is a serial killer?"

"Not yet," Emi rejected, "We don't know enough yet, so right now, it's just a series of murders."

"Would you consider hanging out in L.A. a little while, let me lean on your expertise until we do figure out what we've got?" Kim asked.

"Yeah, just cancel our flights," Gideon said.

"And book more hotel rooms," Emi added, taking out her cell phone, "I'll call JJ and she'll get everybody else here and briefed ASAP. I give her about 4 hours."

* * *

Just like Emi had predicted, the rest of the team arrived in LA in about 4 hours, give or take a few. They were now, all sitting in Detective Kim's office and discussing the case, excluding Emi, who had volunteered to get everyone coffee.

"This guy is an assassin?"

"When you look at the victimology, there's no obvious links," Morgan said, "All the kills are clean except the instance of the last victim, Jeremy Collins."

"There's absolutely no evidence left at the crime scene," Elle said. "There's no DNA, no manifestation of psycho-sexual release, and there's no detectable signature of any kind."

"Remember, our profiles are formulated not just by what's present at the scene, but also what's absent," Gideon reminded Kim.

"From all the evidence that we've gathered, we believe that you're looking for a type-4 assassin," Elle said.

"Type-4?"

"Type-1's are political assassins, for example, John what's-his-face Booth?" Emi said, entering the room with coffee.

"John Wilkes Booth," Spencer corrected as she handed everyone their coffee.

"Yeah, that guy. Anyway, Type-2's are more egocentric, usually just looking for attention or a simple recognition. Type-3's are psychopaths. They're the cold-blooded killers, but they usually leave super messy crime scenes. And last but not least, the type-4 assassins, which is our unsub. They suffer from a major mental disorder and are frequently delusional," Emi finished, taking a seat next to Spencer on the table.

"The closer we come to figuring out that delusion, the closer we'll get to finding the unsub," Spencer explained.

"What's he going to be doing until we do?" Kim asked.

"Finding other victims," Gideon answered.

"Excuse me," a man suddenly said, knocking quickly on the door. "Hi, is there a Detective Kim here?"

"Right here."

"You're heading the investigation into the Natalie Ryan murder?" the man asked.

"Yes..."

"My...I have a client. She's, uh..." the man trailed off, glancing the BAU members in the room. "Is there any place we could be private?"

"We're all working this murder," Kim said.

"Well, um...She received a note, my client did, and she freaked out," the man said, "I told her not to worry about it."

"Where is the note?" Morgan asked. The man handed him a newspaper, and Morgan turned it for the others to see. On the article about Natalie Ryan's death was a note saying: "YOU OWE ME"

"Where's your client?" Hotch asked.

"She's waiting in the other room."

Morgan stood and gently tapped Emi's head. "Emi, let's go. You too, Reid."

Morgan, Emi, and Spencer walked to the room the man was talking about, and Emi's eyes widened when she saw who the client was.

"Lila," Spencer spluttered, catching the girl's attention. "Hi..."

* * *

"How well did you know Natalie Ryan?" Hotch asked.

"We spoke when we saw each other in public, but we were never friends," Lila answered.

"How about Wally Melman?"

"What?"

"Wally Melman," Elle repeated, "He's a producer who was killed a couple of months ago."

"The paper said that was a robbery," Lila protested.

"The paper was wrong," Emi said in a hard tone, surprising everyone. "Did you know him?"

"W-We met a few times about a project, but..." Lila shook her head, "I didn't get the part, they went a different way."

"Which way?" Elle asked.

"He cast another act..." Lila trailed off, "Oh, my god."

"What is it?" Spencer asked.

"Let me guess, he cast Natalie Ryan, didn't he?" Emi said from in between Elle and Morgan. She made sure to keep a distance away from Lila and Spencer. "And that's why you were concerned about the note she got, am I right, Mr. Manager, sir?"

"I'm her _agent_ ," the man corrected.

"Yes, well I'm a _special_ agent so you've been outranked, and I now _de_ -rank you to manager," Emi said in a bored tone, before deciding to repeat the note Lila had gotten. "'You owe me.' I suppose that's _one_ way to get rid of the competition." Hearing that, everyone turned to look at the manager suspiciously.

"Don't look at me," the manager defended, "I brought her into the police station."

"Have you ever had a sense that someone is watching you?" Gideon asked, nonchalantly, "Following you?"

"From the moment I get work, I have hair and makeup and wardrobe people, producers, writers, my agent, my manager, publicist. not to mention photographer," Lila said.

"Oh, boo-hoo, poor you," Emi muttered under her breath, earning confused looks from Morgan and Elle.

"It's part of the life," the manager said.

"Anything that seems odd or out of the ordinary?" Gideon continued to ask, "Happens on a regular basis or semi-regular basis?"

"What do you mean?"

"Repetitive phone calls with hang ups, gifts left anonymously?" Spencer clarified.

"I receive flowers on the seventh of each month," Lila remembered. "They just appear in my trailer, never a note just a plain glass bowl. Red anemones, my favorite."

"And you don't want to know who they're from?" Elle asked.

"Celebrities get anonymous gifts all the time," the manager coughed, "she _has_ fans, you know."

"Really? Would've shocked me," Emi muttered. Once again, only Elle and Morgan heard, but they made sure to remember to talk to her about her attitude later.

"You remember meeting anyone on the seventh day of the month? Gideon asked, looking at the blonde actress for the first time, 'Or July the seventh month of the year?"

"No."

"Wally Melman was a producer that considered hiring you but didn't," Hotch stated, "and Natalie was a rival-"

"-And Chloe Harris," Elle interrupted, holding up a picture of the said girl, "she looks a lot like you, don't you think?"

Lila looked at the picture in confusion. "Who?"

"A potential rival," Emi said in a sort of "duh" tone, making Lila feel stupid. "Guess what happened to her?"

Lila shrunk back at the girl's tone and swallowed. "So, all these...people are being killed because of me?"

"It's possible," Hotch said.

"Ugh, I-I'm sorry. I can't. I-I have to go," Lila said, getting up and walking away, quickly. Emi frowned when she saw Spencer quickly follow her.

* * *

"So, what was that?" Emi turned her attention away from the two retreating people and turned to face Elle and Morgan.

"What was what?"

"Uh, that attitude of yours," Elle said. "You were being all Queen of Sass to them."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Emi denied, "I was just pointing out the obvious. I mean come on. You lose a part of Natalie Ryan, Natalie Ryan gets murdered, and then you get a note saying, "YOU OWE ME" on the article _about_ Natalie Ryan's murder! How do you not connect that?!"

"Am I sensing a hint of jealousy from that?" Morgan teased.

"What? No! Of course not!"

"You are!" Elle gasped, "You're jealous that Spencer is paying more attention to Lila than you!"

"No, I'm not! Jealousy isn't good for a relationship. If I'm jealous then that will make my love for Spencer an infatuation. Besides, I trust Spencer," Emi argued.

"You just don't trust Lila," Elle said.

"Exactly," Emi confirmed.

Morgan laughed, "Relax, Em. You know, it's _okay_ to be jealous. I mean look at her. She's a gorgeous blonde actress-"

"Excuse me?!"

"-But Reid doesn't have eyes for anyone but you," Elle said, elbowing Morgan.

"Yeah," Morgan agreed, rubbing his side, "Trust me. I may not have known Reid for as long as you have, but I know that Reid isn't the kind of person to suddenly drop the girl he's been dating for five years for a blonde actress that he just met."

"I know," Emi sighed, "God, I hate being insecure."

"But didn't you say that professors had to be self-confident to lecture in front of students?" Elle asked, remembering the first time they met.

"Am I not allowed to be both?"

"They contradict each other, so no."

Emi laughed, "Then, the self-confidence is a mask I put on everyday morning and take off every night."

"That must be tiring," Morgan said.

Emi let out a dramatic sigh and fell into Morgan's arms, "You don't even know half of it."

* * *

As it turns out, the unsub was a type-four erotomaniac towards Lila-although Emi couldn't understand why. Erotomaniacs were stalkers with the delusion that they were in love with the person they were stalking. They were stuck in a love affair fantasy that would turn violent if they felt betrayed by their object of affection. Anyone involved with the act of betrayal would then become a target. That's what happened with Lila's stalker. They somehow found out that Lila went to the police, sent her note, and that's how Emi found herself in the actress's trailer, staring at the note in her hands.

" _Lila,_

 _I've always been so good to you. Why would you go to the police?_ " Emi read aloud so the others could know what the note said.

"I'm intrigued by this particular version of the verb 'to be,'" Gideon commented.

"Past participle," Emi and Spencer said in unison. Emi internally smirked when she saw Lila's eyes widened.

"State of being. Preceding adverb," Gideon continued.

"Always," Emi and Spencer once again said together.

"In English?" the detective asked.

"That is English," Spencer replied, "we're discussing the verb tenses-"

"Shh," Emi whispered, putting her recently sanitized finger to Reid's lips. "Maybe another time, sweetie." The little interaction didn't go unnoticed by Lila who stared at them in jealousy.

"Her stalker sounds like someone she knows," Gideon explained to the detective.

"Based on the tense of verb," Spencer couldn't help but add.

"Maybe it's time to get her off the street," Morgan suggested.

Spencer shook his head in disagreement, "You know there's been no physical threat to her. She might be safe just staying put as opposed to anywhere else."

Lila sighed, tired of people talking about her as if she wasn't there. "I'm standing right here, guys."

"No shit, Sherlock," Emi said, causing Lila to glare at her. Emi glared back at her, holding her gaze. There was no way she was going to let some blonde bimbo think that she can intimidate her. They held each other's gaze for a few more seconds before Lila couldn't handle Emi's glare anymore and looked down.

"If we had to move you, it would have to be a disclosed location," Gideon said, ignoring the mini staring contest that just happened. "I'm sure your stalker knows where you live."

"I'm not having the whole show close down," Lila replied.

"Oh, I'm sure it won't be hard to find a replacement," Emi said, nonchalantly.

"I only have one more scene to shoot," Lila said through gritted teeth. She glared at Emi, but Emi didn't seem to notice or care seeing that she had started to make origami from some napkins she found. "Look, last night I decided that I wasn't going to be afraid of this lunatic. Am I safe here?"

"The set's cleared of everyone except essential personnel," Kim said, "And we have increased security at the gate."

At that same moment, there was a knock on the door and it opened.

"Lila, they're ready for you." Lila nodded at the woman and gave the team a look.

"I'm staying at work, gentlemen," she said, not bothering to acknowledge Emi before leaving her trailer.

"Well, she's one tough girl," Morgan mumbled, earning a small "yeah" from the boy genius next to him.

"I didn't want to say anything in front of her," Gideon said to the detective. "but his anger about her going to the police suggests that he might alter his agenda."

"That's typical for a stalker Morgan said.

"But she didn't go alone to the police," Emi pointed, "Mr. Manager guy took her"

Gideon nodded in agreement, "You, Reid, and Morgan stay here."

"I'll hang back, too," the detective said.

"Where you going?" Morgan asked.

"To talk to her manager," Gideon said, leaving the trailer.

* * *

"Are you not worried about your boyfriend and that actress?" Morgan asked.

"I trust Spencer," Emi mumbled, flipping to the next page in her book. "I know he'll do the right thing."

"So, what's your definition of "doing the right thing"?" Morgan asked, watching Spencer and Lila.

"Pushing her away when she tries to hit on him."

"Would _that_ count as hitting on him?"

Emi's head instantly shot up from her book at the same moment as when Lila took the soda bottle from Spencer's hand.

"You don't mind sharing with me, do ya?" she heard Lila ask. Emi wanted to shout "Yes, he _does_ mind, because it's unsanitary, and he has only ever done it me" but it was too late, and Lila was already taking a sip.

"Uh, no." she felt her heart break a little when she heard Spencer's answer. It had taken 5 years for Spencer to be comfortable with sharing food and drinks with Emi, but it only took Lila 5 hours?!

She glared as the set bell rang and the blonde dropped her robe, strutting past Spencer in only a skimpy bikini. She scoffed when she saw Spencer's gaze follow Lila's body.

"That fucking blonde bimbo bitch," Emi muttered, causing Morgan to choke on his coffee. "Hey, Morgan, I'm gonna go see if JJ needs any help."

" _You don't mind sharing with me, do ya_?" Emi mocked in a high pitch voice as she walked past Spencer.

"Um, what?" Spencer watched Emi walk away in confusion.

"Oh, Reid. For a genius, you are such an idiot," Morgan laughed, shaking his head. He took a sip a coffee, and turned serious. "But, seriously dude. You gotta be careful. What you have with Emi is something special. Don't throw it all away for some blonde chick you just met."

"What? Of course not," Spencer denied, "Besides, I don't have a thing for Lila."

"Don't tell me that, tell Emi that," Morgan said. "And you're gonna have to be very convincing. Look man, you can do whatever you want. It's your relationship, not mine. Just, don't do something you'll regret."

* * *

They had found Lila's manager dead in his office. Gideon ordered for no one to tell Lila about her manager's death. He also ordered Spencer and Emi-much to Emi's dismay-to take Lila to her house so she could pack her stuff to go to a safe house. So, that's where they were-at Lila's house.

"Wow, I like your house," Spencer told her.

"I rent it."

"Nice. You should probably change all of your phone numbers," Spencer advised.

"I'm unlisted."

"Anytime you call an 800 number or an 888 number, your phone number is put into a data bank, and then sold to telemarketers. If someone gets your cell phone number, they can go online and research all your records," Emi said.

Lila gave her look. "Hanging out with you can be really depressing."

"It's a free bonus that came with the sass-sarcasm package deal you bought with your Emi-bot."

"Then can I get a refund?"

"Oh, but you've already destroyed the receipt." The two girls glared at each other for a few seconds before turning away from each other.

"Uh, what's this?" Spencer awkwardly asked, walking to a picture on the wall, hoping to ease the tension.

"Photographic collage. I like it because it's like life, you know? You know, like, obscure, difficult," Lila said.

"You should also get a dog. Like a guard dog of some sort," Spencer randomly said.

"Allergic. Earl Grey or Chamomile?"

"Wait, what?" Spencer asked, confused.

"She was asking if you wanted tea," Emi repeated, a little ticked.

"Yes, yes, sure."

* * *

It was now nightfall, and Lila had disappeared somewhere in her house. Emi was in the kitchen, making some coffee for Spencer, who had decided to examine Lila's collage out of boredom.

"Feeling anything, yet?" Lila asked, walking over to stand next to him.

"There's definitely something _appealing_ about this one," Spencer said.

Lila scoffed and walked away, "It's a start."

Spencer turned around when he heard the girl walk away. "What are you doing?" he asked when she started to pull her robes off.

"Going for a swim," Lila said.

"What? No, Lila!" Lila didn't listen and instead, dove into the pool in her backyard.

"Lila, you cannot do this," Spencer said, earning a look from the woman.

"Five minutes," Lila responded, motioning a hand towards the house, "Go get a suit in the house,"

"What? No! I don't wanna grab a suit," Spencer exclaimed, his voice going higher.

"Come on!" Lila said, splashing Spencer.

Spencer jumped further away from the pool, "Are you kidding me? No!"

"Join me." Lila begged.

"No, I'm not gonna join you."

"Why not?"

"Lila, you're being pursued by psychotic killer who shoots people in the head!"

"I'm not gonna stop living my life. I'm just not."

"Lila, I'm begging you. Will you please get out of pool?"

Lila sighed, "Really, Spence, you gotta live a little!"

"Live a little?" Spencer repeated, "I've known you 48 hours, and I feel like I've already aged 10 years."

"I can't be that bad," Lila protested.

"Yes No, you _are_ that bad."

Lila groaned and swam over to where Spencer stood, "Fine. Can you help me out at least?"

Spencer took Lila's outstretched hand and tugged to pull her out, only to topple into the water. Spencer's head emerged from under the water, and he spat out some pool water, causing Lila to crack up.

"Yes, very funny. Laugh it up, why don't you, Lila"

"It's hilarious."

"My gun's wet. So great," Spencer grumbled. tossing his gun onto the side of the pool, "And my clothes."

"You should have worn the suit," Lila teased, grabbing Spencer's tie to tug him into a kiss.

Spencer froze. For some reason, he couldn't move. All he felt was the sense of déjà vu when Lila kissed him. When he realized what she was doing, he quickly pulled away.

"This is completely inappropriate."

"Is it?" She asked, pulling him forward again. She placed her lips on his again, "Then, what's this?" Spencer closed his eyes and felt himself respond to the kiss. It seemed so familiar. The setting, the events that led up to the kiss-it was just like his first kiss with...

 _Emi._

Spencer's eyes shot open and he automatically made eye-contact with a sad, teary-eyed, Emi Hinata. His girlfriend. Oh god, he kissed someone that wasn't his girlfriend. He's _still_ kissing someone that wasn't his girlfriend.

Spencer quickly pulled away from the kiss and pushed Lila away from him.

"Stop-stop," Spencer spluttered, "I-uh-I can't."

He looked back to where Emi was, but the girl was already gone.

"Look, Lila. I have to tell you something. It's about your agent, Michael..."

* * *

Emi sniffled as she sat on the stairs in the front of the house. She couldn't understand why Spencer would do something like that. He knew they were dating-for five _fucking_ years _-_ yet he still kissed her. Sure, Lila made the first move, and Emi would've understood if Spencer had pushed her away. But he didn't. Instead, he kissed her back.

A sob escaped when she remembered that her and Spencer's first kiss also happened like that. The only difference was that Spencer hadn't been dating anyone.

"Hey, you okay?" Emi wiped her tears away and looked up to see Elle standing a few feet away from her.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm completely fine," Emi lied, but Elle obviously didn't believe her.

"Right, well the tear stains on your cheeks say otherwise," Elle pointed out before sitting down next to the girl.

"Yeah, okay. I'm not fine," Emi mumbled, "But what are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be with Morgan at Martinez's."

"Oh, Morgan's here, too," Elle said, "And so's Martinez. He was hiding behind the bushes taking pictures. We caught him in the act. He claims that he's not the murderer, but at least he'll be locked up for trespassing."

"Oh, that's good," Emi said, distantly.

"Yeah...Look, Morgan and I know what happened in the pool. Do you wanna talk about it?" Elle asked.

Emi shook her head, "Not really, no..."

"Guys." They heard Spencer call.

Elle sighed and got up from the stairs, "Alright. Well, I'm gonna go see what Reid needs. Take your time to freshen up."

Emi nodded, "Okay. Thanks, Elle."

"Anytime," Elle said, walking to where Spencer was.

Emi continued to sit on the stairs for a few more seconds before deciding that she couldn't sulk forever. Gathering up the courage, Emi forced herself to get off the stairs and walk to the kitchen.

"Uh, what are you guys doing?" Emi asked. In front of her, Spencer, Elle, Morgan, and Lila were standing in front of the kitchen island. Lila's collage was taken apart and scattered on top of it.

"I think if we rearrange the strips, we can make a picture," Spencer said, moving a few strips around, "Help me put this together."

Not saying anything, Emi walked over to stand next to Morgan and started to move the strips around, her mind already starting to see the picture. Spencer's hand went to move another strip, but Emi quickly smacked his hand away.

"Don't touch anything," she ordered coldly, not once looking up from the strips, "If you move or touch anything, I will lose the picture in my head."

Spencer, Elle, and Morgan quickly took a step back away from the counter. Lila followed them in confusion. They continued to watch as Emi's hand darted back and forth, grabbing strips and placing them in different spots. After a few minutes, she stepped away from the picture, and everyone could see the picture that Emi had seen in her mind.

"Lila, it looks like someone's been stalking you for years," Morgan said as he scanned the picture.

"Yeah, this tells your whole life story," Elle agreed. "Movie premieres, theater playbills-"

"Everything since college," Spencer finished.

"Who gave you this collage?" Morgan asked.

"He did," Lila said, pointing at a someone in the picture.

"This guy? Who is he?" Morgan asked.

"That's the guy I went to highschool with. Parker Dunley," Spencer told them.

Morgan quickly took out his cell, dialing Garcia. "Garcia: Parker Dunley. E-mail me a sheet on him, all right?"

* * *

Morgan and Elle went with Gideon to go to Parker Dunley's studio, and Emi was forced to be alone with Spencer and Lila. They were all currently in Lila's living room and Spencer was on the phone with Morgan.

"Lila, do you know someone named Maggie Lowe?" Spencer asked once he finished the call.

"Mags?" Lila asked, "Yeah, of course I know her. I've known her for years. I got her a job on my show." Suddenly Lila's phone rang.

"What?" Spencer asked when he saw her look at the cell in confusion.

"That's her calling right now."

"Is she calling from a cell phone?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah." Emi quickly took out her own cell and dialed Garcia.

"Lila, we think Maggie's the unsub," Spencer told Lila.

"The what?"

" _Oracle of Quantico, speak if you deign the hear truth."_

Emi smiled, "Hey Garcia."

"The stalker," Spencer clarified.

" _Oh, Emi! How are you feeling, sweetie? Elle told me what happened."_

"I've been better," Emi answered truthfully, "Listen, so who we think is the unsub, Maggie Lowe, is calling Lila, right now."

"No way," Lila denied.

" _Did she answer the phone?"_

"Answer the phone," Spencer told her.

"That's...that's crazy."

"Holy shit, just answer the goddamn phone!" Emi snapped, startling everyone, "Act natural and keep her on the phone. The longer she's on the line, the more we'll be able to trace the call."

 _"Calm down, honey. You can't focus if you're mad. tell me the number."_

Slightly scared, Lila looked down at her cell before answering it. "Hello? Hello, Maggie? Maggie, is that you? What's wrong?"

"3-2-3, 5-5-5, 0-1-2-9," Emi recited.

" _Okay, keep her talking. Keep her talking._ "

"Maggie?" Emi gestured for Lila to keep talking

"Tired?"

" _Yeah. There's been so much upset, in the world really. I think it's just so tragic. All of it. I miss you. I just do."_

"Mags. I saw you today."

 _"It's never gonna be the same as it was,"_ Maggie said, _"It's just never gonna be the same."_

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lila said.

" _I'm talking about that time in college. When the heat in your apartment was off and the two of us stayed in my dorm room,"_ Maggie spat out, _"don't you remember?_ "

Emi glanced at Lila to see a confused look on her face.

" _You were playing Ophelia on the main stage."_

A look of realization crossed Lila's face, "I remember."

" _That was the happiest time of my life."_

"Maggie...Sweetheart...Th-That was only for a weekend," Lila told her.

" _The happiest time, and you don't know anything about me at all._ " They heard Maggie inhale sharply. " _And I did everything for you._ "

" _Emi_ ," Garcia suddenly said, bringing Emi's attention back to her phone. " _Is Lila's address 6028 Pike street?_ "

"Uh, I think so, yes?"

" _She's calling from inside the house._ " Emi's eyes grew wide. " _I'll get you some backup._ " Emi ended the phone call and Spencer turned to Lila.

"Lila."

" _You...you...YOU!_ " the sound of a phone clattering to the ground could be heard from Lila's phone.

"How could she get into the house?" Spencer asked.

"She has keys."

Spencer and Emi pulled out their guns and held them out in front of them. The three cautiously walked to Lila's room. Emi quickly opened it, and Spencer rushed in first, Lila and Emi following. They walked further in and were near the bathroom when Maggie decided to reveal herself.

"Why'd you have to bring these people here?" she asked from behind Lila, pointing a gun at the actress's head.

"Put down the gun," she ordered Spencer and Emi, who both slowly lowered their guns.

"Maggie," Spencer started to say.

"Don't call me Maggie. You don't know me," Maggie said, glaring at Spencer. "Come on, Lila. Let's go. We really got to go, baby. Come on."

"Maggie, don't hurt her," Spencer said. "You don't need to hurt her."

"You don't know anything," Maggie said to Spencer before speaking to Lila. "I would never...do anything to hurt you." Maggie caressed Lila's face. "No. I created you."

"No, you didn't," Lila denied.

Maggie waved her gun, "Yes, I did. I know I did. God. You stupid, ungrateful...God!" Maggie stepped away from Lila, aiming her gun at the girl. "I can't believe that I loved you."

"Maggie," Spencer said, slowly, "she..."

"She loves me, now," Emi interrupted and everyone turned to look at her in shock.

"What?" Maggie moved her gun to point it at Emi.

"She told me, so," Emi said, silently praying that Lila and Spencer understood what she was trying to do. "We were swimming in the pool and she kissed me. Give it up, she loves me, now."

"No," Maggie said, pointing her gun back at Lila.

"Tell her," Emi said, making eye-contact with Lila, "Tell her that we kissed in the pool."

"No!" Maggie cried, unsure where to point her gun.

Lila stared at Emi with wide eyes. Spencer also stared, not sure what to do. With a reassuring nod from Emi, Lila gulped and said, "Yes, we kissed."

"Gah!" Maggie cried, pushing Lila away to shoot Emi, but when her back was facing Spencer, he quickly grabbed Maggie's arms, and pushed it up just as Maggie pulled the trigger. Emi forced the gun out of Maggie's grip as Spencer pushed her to the floor.

"Don't move," she ordered, pointing it at Maggie.

"Please kill me," Maggie begged. "Come on, shoot me, please! I'd be so much happier. Please!"

Lila sat against her bed as she watched what was happening, tears streaming down her face.

Emi took a deep breath and shook her head, "No."

"Please..." Maggie begged, a bit calmer now.

Emi only shook her head again. She threw the gun across the room and pulled the girl into her arms, comforting her as the girl started sobbing.

"We're gonna get you help," she said, soothingly rubbing Maggie's back. "I promise you, it's gonna be all right."

* * *

"Back up, let's go." Morgan ordered the paparazzi.

The BAU team had arrived at Lila's house to see Emi, Spencer, Lila, and Maggie all sitting at Lila's kitchen table. Emi had made them all some tea, and Lila and Maggie managed to calmly talk-although, at first, there was a lot of shouting and tears-about what happened. Of course, Maggie was arrested at first, but Emi managed to convince them to admit her to a mental institute instead. The BAU team were now in front of the police station, about to leave for the airport. Lila was also there, wanting to see them off.

"Look, I'm sorry again for hitting on and kissing your boyfriend," Lila apologized to Emi for what had been the 3rd time.

Emi chuckled, "I've told you this, it's not your fault. Spencer didn't tell you we were dating, it was an honest mistake."

"Yeah, but I should've known," Lila argued, "There were some moments when I could tell that you two had something, and I just ignored it and continued to flirt with him."

"It's water under the bridge," Emi said, waving a hand.

"Still, I hope I didn't ruin you two's relationship."

Emi sighed, "What you did, I could understand. He's cute, and you didn't know that we were dating. Spencer, on the other hand. He _knew_ we were dating-I mean it's been five years-but he still kissed you back."

"So, you're gonna break up with him?"

"I'm not sure yet," Emi admitted. "I mean we've been together for 5 years, and that's just dating-wise. We were childhood friends."

"Aww, that's so cute," Lila cooed, "Well, I hope you guys work out. I may have spent most of the time flirting with Spencer, but you guys were cute."

Emi nodded, "Thanks. And what about you and Maggie?"

"We're going to continue being friends," Lila told her. "I'm going to visit her whenever I can."

"That's good."

"Darling, E-scape wants to do a segment on you this evening on the stalking even," A woman said, butting into their conversation, "I told them yes."

Both Lila and Emi gave the woman a look. "Why'd you do that?" Lila asked.

"It's okay. It's gonna be fine," The woman reassured her, not really getting it, "The hair and makeup people are coming in 10 minutes. There's also talk about 60 minutes."

Lila and Emi exchanged looks. "This kind of publicity makes me really uncomfortable," Lila said, truthfully.

"Don't be ridiculous," the woman said, "I'm talking about performing a service, all right? Stalking is a major problem in this country. It's good, it's good." Suddenly, the woman's cell rang. "I got to take this."

"Well, I hope even after what happened, we can still be friends," Lila said.

Emi nodded, "I'd like that."

"Great! If I'm ever in Washington, I'll make sure to visit, or at least call," Lila said, handing Emi her phone, and taking Emi's phone to put in her own number. "Call or text me if you ever want to talk. I can't promise I'll answer right away, but I'll make sure to call or text you back."

"Alright," Emi said, putting her number into Lila's phone. "Don't be afraid to do the same."

"Emi," Spencer called. "We gotta go."

"Bye, Lila," Emi said, giving Lila a quick hug.

"Bye, Emi," Lila said before calling out to Spencer, "Bye, Spencer!"

Spencer gave her an awkward wave before turning to Emi who walking over to him. He offered to take her suitcase, but Emi just walked past him, giving him the cold shoulder.

Lila sighed as she watched Spencer hang his head, dejectedly. She really did mean it when she told Emi that she hoped for the two to work out.

* * *

Before she knew it, Emi was back in D.C. She had refused to make any interactions with Spencer on the plane, giving him the silent treatment. She was currently sitting at her desk, furiously filling out her paperwork, ignoring everything and everyone around her.

Spencer sighed as he watched his girlfriend-was she even his girlfriend? She refused to say a word to him, so technically they never broke up...

"Morgan, I screwed up," Spencer groaned.

Morgan scoffed, "Yeah, you definitely did. Why did you kiss that actress, Reid? You knew Emi was in the house."

"I don't know," Spencer said, weakly. "It was just the way it happened. Where it happened and the events that led up to it reminded me of my first kiss with Emi."

"Your first kiss with Emi was you kissing her even though you were dating another girl?" Morgan questioned.

"What? No!" Spencer exclaimed. "First of all, Emi is my first girlfriend."

"All right, all right. No need to get all defensive," Morgan said, chuckling a little bit, "So what happened?"

"Well…"

 _"Emi, what are you wearing?" An 18-year-old Spencer asked, blushing when he saw what his best friend was wearing._

 _"A swimsuit, duh~" Emi said, doing a little twirl._

 _"C-Can you put on some clothes, please?" Spencer requested, averting his eyes away from the girl in front of him._

 _Emi groaned, "Oh, grow-up, Spencer. You're_ 18 _. Besides, you've already seen me in a bikini before."_

 _"W-Well, yeah, but-but why are you even wearing one?"_

 _"To go swimming, obviously."_

 _"But is autumn!"_

 _"It's only September. If you don't want to swim, fine. But I am."_

 _"Emi, don't-"_

 _His protests went unheard as Emi dove into the pool._

 _"Emi!" Spencer shouted when Emi's head emerged from the water._

 _"What?"_

 _"Get out, you could get sick," Spencer pleaded._

 _"It's 70 degrees outside!"_

 _"Exactly!"_

 _"Alright, alright. Fine," Emi reluctantly agreed, swimming over to where Spencer stood. She held a hand out for him. "Help me up, please."_

 _Spencer rolled his eyes and grabbed her hand to pull her up. However, instead of pulling her out of the pool, she pulled him in._

 _"Emi!" Spencer spluttered when his head popped out of the water. He glared at the giggling girl in front of him. "This isn't funny."_

 _"Au contraire, it is," Emi said, giggling even harder after seeing the boy's glare. "It really is."_

 _Spencer let out an annoyed huff, "Great. Now my clothes are wet, and I'm cold. If I get sick, it's all your fault."_

 _Emi mockingly pouted. "Aww, I'm sowwy boo-boo, are you mad at me?" She asked in a baby voice._

 _"Okay, first-don't ever call me boo-boo again. It's weird," Spencer said, making Emi nod in agreement._

 _"Agreed."_

 _"Secondly, yes I_ am _mad at you," Spencer said, turning his back to her._

 _Emi whimpered, "I'm sowwy, Spencer. Can I do something to make it up to you?"_

 _Spencer glanced at the girl, "I suppose...why? Do you have something in mind?"_

 _He noticed Emi licking her lips. "Well, there's one thing I can think of..." Emi admitted._

 _"And what's that?"_

 _Emi licked her lips again before mumbling a quick, "Forgive me." In a quick second, Emi grabbed the front of Spencer's shirt and crashed her lips onto his._

 _Spencer stiffened, shocked that his best friend was kissing him. Feeling him stiffen, Emi started to pull away, but when Spencer felt that, he quickly pulled her back, kissing her back._

"Are you trying to say that she kisses like me?" Spencer spun around to see Emi standing in front of him, her arms crossed.

Emi raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

"No! Definitely not," Spencer denied, before hanging his head in shame, "I'm sorry, Emi."

"Is it because you're getting tired of me?" Emi asked, "I mean, I was your first girlfriend, and we've been together for five years-"

"I will _never_ get tired of you," Spencer promised, grabbing her hands, "Trust me."

"I trusted you," Emi said, hurt laced her tone. She pulled her hands away and took a step back. "I trusted you to be around her, and you kissed her. Most girls would have demanded for a break-up then and there."

"Please don't," Spencer begged, "Give me another chance."

Emi tucked her hair behind her ear, staring at him for a few seconds before sighing in defeat. "Alright. But first..." Emi grabbed Spencer's tie and pulled down into a passionate kiss. Morgan glanced down at his watch and counted 38 seconds before the couple pulled away, both breathing heavily.

"I'm a better kisser, right?" Emi asked, breathlessly.

Stunned, Spencer could only a nod and a small "yeah." Feeling satisfied, Emi smirked and walked away. "Let's go home, Spence. I think I need to do a few more things before my self-esteem is fixed."

"Uh, y-yeah...yeah, okay," Spencer stuttered, frantically stuffing everything into his messenger before running after Emi. "Bye, Morgan."

"Use protection," Morgan called after them, chuckling when he saw Emi stick her tongue out at him. "Man, she's got him whipped."

* * *

 **A/N: Yay! Two episodes done! The next one is the Fisher King Part One Episode. I already have plans for it, and I'm excited. However, you might have to wait a while for another update because I have school. Sorry.**

 **-SingingGeekyBookWorm-**


	11. 1-22 - The Fisher King: Part One

"Oh, there he is," Spencer didn't even bother to look up when he heard Morgan walk over to him with Elle in tow. "Pretty boy," Morgan said, "Last chance. I can get my man to swing you a hotel room for practically nothing. It's a great place for you and Emi to get some _action_."

"Sorry, Morgan, but Spence and I already have plans," Emi said, saving Spencer from having to respond. "Anyway, you ready to go, Spencer?"

Spencer nodded, closing his bag. "Yep. Have a good one, Morgan, Elle."

Emi smiled, giving Spencer a quick peck on the cheek before turning to her friends. "Bye Elle. Bye Morgan. Don't get arrested in wherever you guys are going."

* * *

BENNINGTON SANITARIUM, NEVADA

Emi grabbed a hold of Spencer's hand and squeezed it tightly as they both stood there and watched Spencer's mom, Diana Reid, peacefully sit there as she wrote in a journal.

"I heard a rumor you two were here." Spencer and Emi turned to see Doctor Jesson walk over to them.

"How's she doing?" Spencer asked her.

"Schizophrenia is a lifetime illness," the doctor told him, "The meds stabilize the worst of her symptoms, but she still has bad days. What makes her most happy are her journals and...your daily letters. She's exceptionally proud of you."

"She is?"

"Talks about you all the time, to anyone who will listen," Jesson confirmed, "Staff, other patients. Her journals are filled with the cases you write her about. Calls them your adventures."

"Mom's of the belief that you can find adventure all around you if you just look," Spencer said, "That's what happens when you're a professor of 15th century literature."

"She's gonna be so excited that you two were finally able to get here in person," Jesson told the couple.

Emi smiled and moved to walked towards Spencer's mother, but Spencer quickly pulled her back.

"Maybe it's better if we just let her rest today," Spencer quickly said, taking a step back.

"Rest?" Jesson repeated, "But Doctor-"

"Can you give this to her?" he requested, handing the doctor the package he was holding, "It's Margery Kempe. Her favorite."

"It would be really good for her if-" Jesson tried to tell him, but Spencer was already walking out the door.

"Spencer?" Emi called after him. She sighed and gave the doctor an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry. We'll come back tomorrow, though. I'll make sure of it."

"Spencer!" Emi shouted, running after the man, "What was that all about?"

"I'm sorry," Spencer sighed, "I just-I can't-I don't why, but I just can't face her right now."

Emi smiled at him sadly as she grabbed his hands. "It's okay," she reassured him softly, "Just take your time."

Spencer smiled back at her, "Thanks."

Emi looped an arm around his and pulled him forward. "Come on, then. If we're not gonna visit your family, then we're gonna visit mine."

* * *

"Spencer! Welcome home!" Emi rolled her eyes when her 9-year-old half-sister, Kim-Ly, ran to Spencer, giving him lots of affection.

"Thanks," she muttered, "Feelin' the love."

"'Sup, sis." Emi suddenly felt someone hang their arm over her shoulder. "How's it goin'?"

"Hey, Haru," Emi greeted back, "I'm still mentally sane if that's what you're asking. My job hasn't broken me, yet."

"That's good," Haru nodded.

"How's mom?" Emi asked.

Haru let out a sigh, "She's still the same. She acts all nice and herself during the day, but sometimes I can hear her cries in the late of night. I mean, it's been a year already, you'd think she'd get over it-"

"Daichi died, Haru," Emi said softly, "I don't think anyone will be able to ' _get over it._ ' You can't tell me you're already over his death."

"I have accepted it," Haru stated, stiffly, "And I also know that a part of him is still here with us, watching over us."

Emi couldn't help but let out a snort, "I thought you didn't believe in all that superstitious stuff."

"I don't," Haru agreed, "But this isn't a superstition. This is a twin-tuition."

"Right," Emi said with an eye roll, but then she quickly turned serious. "People heal at different speeds, Haru. It just so happens that mom's one of the slower ones.

" _Đó là ai dẹ_ (Who is it?)?" Everyone turned to see Emi's mother and step-father, Mai Dam and Michael Kanata, walking into the hallway. Emi's mother beamed when she saw that it was Spencer and Emi. "Ah, Emi, Spencer. Welcome home."

" _Dịa cám ơn mẹ_ (Thanks, mom)," Emi said, giving her mom a hug.

"How was your flight?" Michael asked as he patted Spencer on the back.

"It was fine," Spencer replied.

"Hey, what's this?" Everyone turned to see that Kim-Ly was holding up a letter.

"Kim-Ly! _Aiya_ , you can't just take things that aren't yours," Emi's mother scold, snatching the letter.

" _Mẹ, cái nó là cái gì dẹ_ (Mom, what is that)?" Emi asked, tentatively reaching for the letter. Her mother didn't say anything. She looked at her sadly as she watched her daughter open and read the letter.

"Emi?" Spencer asked in worry when he saw his girlfriend's face grow sad.

"It's my old step-father," Emi said, looking up at him sadly, "He wants me to visit him."

"Emi..."

Emi's mother nodded, "I knew Emi would never do it. I don't _want_ her to."

Michael took the letter from his step-daughter's hands and began to walk towards his office. "I'll go shred this letter, then."

"No, wait," Emi said, "I, uh, I think I might actually go."

"What?!"

"Emi, what the hell are you thinking?!" Haru shouted, "This man ra-"

"Haru!" Michael interrupted, gesturing towards Kim-Ly, who had her ears covered by Spencer.

"Look, I appreciate that you're looking for me," Emi told her brother, "But by avoiding him, it makes him think that he has power over me-that he can still control me. I need to face him, Haru. I need to show him that he doesn't affect me anymore."

Spencer walked over to Emi, grabbing a hold of her hand. "I can, uh, go with her if you'd like," he told Haru.

Haru nodded, "Thanks, Spencer."

Emi gave Spencer's hand a small squeeze before turning towards Michael. "When did he want me to visit?"

"May 25th."

Emi let out a shaky breath, "We'll be there."

* * *

"No running away this time?" Emi jokingly asked Spencer as they walked up the stairs of the sanitarium.

Spencer replied with a chuckle. "No running away this time," he promised. They were about to walk into the library when a nurse called them.

"Oh, Dr. Reid. Someone delivered this to the desk last night for you," she said, picking a thin yellow envelope.

"What?" Spencer took the envelope and cautiously opened it. Emi watched in confusion as Spencer took out a smaller yellow envelope. Spencer shook the envelope to get the key out onto Emi's hand before reaching in to pull out a folded up piece of paper.

"' _She will die unless you save her, Dr. Reid,_ '" Spencer read aloud, "' _Call Gideon. He knows._ '"

Emi sighed, pulling out her cell phone, "Looks like vacation time's over."

* * *

"You got arrested in Jamaica?!" Emi exclaimed into her phone. She and Spencer were currently at the airport, waiting for their flight to arrive. She walked over to where Spencer sat, fiddling with something in his hands. When he noticed that she was walking over to him, Spencer quickly stuffed the item into his pocket before placing his hands back onto his lap-acting like he hadn't been doing anything at all. Emi eyed Spencer suspiciously, but she chose not to question it and, instead, continued on with her conversation with Elle. "Are you kidding me, Elle? And after I specifically requested you _not_ to get arrested."

" _It wasn't my fault_ ," Elle defended herself, " _Besides, Hotch came and cleared it up. We're all back at the BAU, now with Gideon and JJ._ "

"Alrighty then," Emi said, "Brief us."

" _So, clearly we have a psychopath intent on drawing us into his game,_ " Emi heard Hotch say.

" _Playing with us_ ," Gideon added.

" _Then let's return the favor,_ " Elle said.

" _He kept telling us repeatedly to save 'her.' What 'her?'_ " Morgan questioned.

" _The items he sent must be some kind of clues,_ " Gideon said.

"What items did he send you guys?" Emi asked.

" _I got a Nellie Fox baseball card from 1963, and I got a head in a box_ ," Gideon told her.

" _I got a rare butterfly in a shadow box_ ," JJ supplied.

" _And repeated messages to save 'her'?_ " Hotch added.

" _I got the decapitated body and a nice visit to the Jamaican police headquarters_." Emi bit back a grin when she heard how bitter and angry Elle was.

"Uh, we got a skeleton key and a note," Spencer told the agents through Emi's phone.

" _And the guy who called me said the youngest holds the key_ ," Hotch said.

"That's Spencer," Emi said cheerfully, earning a playful glare from Spencer.

" _Wait really?_ " Morgan asked, " _But I thought_ you _were youngest, Emi._ "

Emi shook her head despite the fact that Morgan couldn't see it. "Nope! I'm 3 months older."

" _Haha_ ," Morgan chuckled, but Emi could tell that he turned serious soon after, " _Okay, but unsubs, they don't contact us this way. I mean, they might taunt us, dare us to catch 'em. But they don't drag us into their fantasy._ "

" _Why not?_ " JJ asked.

"Most fantasies are usually sexual ones," Spencer explained, "And unless one of us matches their preference, they generally leave us out of it."

" _I mean, taunting is a show of power,_ " Morgan continued, " _But making us the object is...I don't know what the hell that is._ "

" _Something else about the baseball card,_ " Gideon said, " _Nellie Fox was one of the stars of the 1959 White Sox. I went to almost every game with my father that year. Fox was my hero._ " There was a brief moment of silence before Gideon explained what he was trying to say, " _So is it a coincidence that he sends this to me or does he know how I feel about him?_ "

" _I collected butterflies when I was a little girl_ ," JJ suddenly said, _"That's how I knew what butterfly was in the box._ "

" _So then he knows us_ ," Morgan concluded.

" _I got an anonymous message_ ," Hotch pointed out.

" _I got a police raid_ ," Elle added.

"But he knew exactly where you were," Emi said, "He knew exactly where to find me and Spencer."

"Morgan and Elle's hotel in Jamaica, Gideon at his cabin, Hotch at his house," Spencer listed, "And Emi and I in Vegas."

" _He got that from the Bureau computers. Your locations are always in there so they can find if you they need you._ " Emi blinked in confusion when she heard a new voice.

"Garcia?"

" _Hey, Emi. Hey Spencer_ ," Garcia said, timidly, " _I, uh, I checked the log. The hacker was definitely in the personnel folders. There were room numbers to the hotel in Jamaica, the address of Gideon's cabin. There's a lot of information in those databases._ "

" _Have you figured out how he was able to get into the Bureau's computers?_ " Hotch asked her.

" _I'm-I'm still working on that._ " Emi and Spencer shared an uneasy look.

"Garcia," Emi said gently, "If you know something-"

" _No-um...It's jus-I wa-I was playing a game yesterday,_ " Garcia finally admitted, " _An online game._ "

" _A game?_ " Gideon repeated.

" _Not with the Bureau computer, sir_ ," Garcia quickly said, " _On my own personal laptop_."

"Oh, Garcia, no," Emi groaned.

" _I don't understand_ ," Hotch said.

" _Wireless internet,_ " was all Morgan said.

" _By wirelessly hooking into the net here to get online, the hacker could have gotten into my computer first, and I have far less protection on my own laptop,_ " Garcia explained.

" _And he could've gotten into the entire Bureau computer system this way?_ " Hotch asked in disbelief.

" _Yeah, it's possible._ "

 _"If you are boarding on American Airlines, destination D.C., please be ready board."_

"Hey, our flight just arrived, so we gotta go," Emi said into her phone, "And Gideon, please don't yell at Garcia."

* * *

After landing back in Virginia, Emi and Spencer called Garcia, who told them where the team was headed. They cautiously looked around the house of Frank Giles as the police began investigating.

"'Hour be none,'" they heard Morgan say.

"3 P.M.," Spencer said, letting everyone know that he and Emi were here, "Hey, guys, Garcia told us where to find you."

"3 P.M.?" Gideon repeated.

"It's medieval," Emi explained.

Spencer nodded in agreement, "Back then, the days used to be broken into hourly intervals. The Canonical hours of the Breviary."

"Prime's 6 A.M., Terce is 9 A.M., Sext: 12 noon, None's 3 P.M., and Vespers is 6 P.M.," Emi listed.

"Reid, Emi, do not ever go away again," Elle exclaimed, pointing at them, "And also don't ever break up."

Emi snorted while Spencer had a smug smile on his face.

"Medieval. That's why the language changed," Gideon said, "'Doth.'"

"Everything this guy does is a clue," Hotch stated.

"Okay, guys, it's 4:35. What do we do?" Morgan questioned, "Leave the blade in 'til 3 P.M. tomorrow?"

"Not if we can block that window out," Spencer said, "Ah, do you have any spotlights in your car?"

"Sure," the woman Spencer spoke to said, getting up.

"Thanks, Gina," Elle said.

* * *

"The sun is right at 5 P.M.," Spencer explained, shining a spotlight in a now dark room. "Morgan, follow the shadows as I move the light higher."

Morgan removed all of the obstacles and items in front of the place where the light shined. "Okay, then what?"

"Tap," Hotch instructed.

Morgan listened and began tapping until there was a sound change. "Hollow."

"Definitely an Indiana Jones movie," Elle said.

"Feels like the wallpaper's been replaced," Morgan told them.

"Tear it open," Hotch said.

"Oh! Let me do it!" Emi exclaimed, getting up from where she sat to over where Morgan stood. Morgan handed her a knife, which she used to cut open a part of the wall. Grabbing onto the loose wood, Emi tugged and pulled part of the wall off, revealing a hole with a box inside.

"There's a box inside," she said, "I'm taking it out."

"Wait, are we sure it's safe?" Spencer said, making Emi stop her motions.

"What, you think it's a bomb?" Hotch questioned, "You think he'd be playing this game just to blow us up?"

"Hotch, catch," Emi said, taking something out of her pocket and throwing it at the man.

Caught by surprise, Hotch instinctively caught the object, then stared at it in confusion. "A Snicker bar?"

"You're not you when you're hungry," Emi said, causing Elle and Morgan to snort.

"Anyway," Morgan said, rolling his eyes with a shake of his head, "If he'd wanted to blow us up, he'd have already done that as long as we've been standing here. Emi take out the box."

Emi listened and pulled out the box. She placed it on a small table and Morgan tried to open it.

"Locked. You want me to break it?" Morgan asked.

"No. We should process it first," Hotch said.

"' _The youngest holds the key,_ '" Gideon recited.

Hearing that, Emi walked over to Spencer and pulled the skeleton key out of his shirt pocket. They both jogged back to the box, and Emi inserted the key into the keyhole. Twisting it, the box made an unlocking sound and Morgan carefully pulled the lid open. As the lid opened, a familiar song started playing.

" _Forellenquintett_ ," Emi said, recognizing the song, "Also known as ' _The Trout Quintet._ ' I used to have a music box like that when I was younger. I would always play it as I went to sleep."

"' _Never would it be night, but always clear day to any man's sight,_ '" Spencer said, reading the note he found in the box aloud.

"Well, that was worth it," Elle grumbled sarcastically.

"The lid," Gideon pointed out, "Little tab right under the lock."

Morgan pulled the tab, revealing a secret compartment with a disc and locks of blonde hair tied together with a pink ribbon.

"Oh, God," Elle muttered.

"Evidence bag," Emi said, holding out the bag for Elle to put the hair in.

Morgan picked up the disc and held it out towards them. "' _Thy Quest._ '"

* * *

The team were now back at Quantico, watching the video on the disc. When the video started playing, it showed a desk full of objects, then a man came on screen and sat at the desk. However, they couldn't see his face.

"He moves funny," Hotch pointed out.

"Looks like he's injured or something," Morgan guessed.

" _I assure you..._ " the man started, " _You'll all understand in the end why it must be this way. You might even thank me._ "

"Don't hold your breath, scumbag," Elle insulted, despite the fact she was talking to a recording.

" _You know you're on a quest. A young girl's life depends on the successful completion of it._ " The video changed to show a girl in what looked to be a barred room. She was thrashing around and throwing things. " _As you can see, she's quite beautiful...and in distress. Now please listen closely for there is one rule and this rule_ must _be followed. The one rule is...only the members of your team may participate in the quest._

" _Jason Gideon._ " A picture of Gideon appear on the screen.

" _Aaron Hotchner,_ " This time, it was a close up of Hotch. And after that, the pictures of the other members appeared, one after the other.

" _Derek Morgan._ "

" _Elle Greenaway._ "

" _Spencer Reid._ "

" _Emi Hinata._ "

" _Jennifer Jareau._ "

" _Penelope Garcia._

" _A quest must be completed in the proper way or it isn't a quest is it?"_ the man continued, " _That's it. One rule. Simple. Now, you will be receiving an item soon that will hold the final clue you'll need to finish the quest. You will find you will also need a book which has inspired many an adventure like mine. Believe me when I tell you I truly hope to see you all soon. It will mean a successful end to this adventure...for all of us._ "

"This guy's got pictures of us?" Elle muttered.

At the same time, Spencer asked the team, "What do we do now?"

"The lock of hair's being analyzed for DNA. There might be something on the file," Hotch said.

"I'll get the video to enhance the shots of the girl," JJ said, getting up to leave.

"Let's get the clues up on the board," Hotch instructed, "Maybe we can make some sense of something,"

"Wait, we're gonna play this guy's game?" Elle exclaimed in disbelief.

"Do we have a choice?" Spencer retorted.

Suddenly, Gideon got up and abruptly left the room.

"Be right back. You guys keep working," Hotch said, getting up to follow Gideon.

* * *

"My eyes are so heavy, I can barely see it," Elle groaned, looking away from the piece of paper on the board. It had been brought in by Mrs. Hotchner after it had been delivered to her house.

"Go sit down," Emi instructed, leading Elle to a nearby chair.

"I think it's a coded message of some sort," Spencer said, not hearing what Elle had said, "The unsub said we needed a book, didn't he?"

"Yeah. ' _A book that inspired many an adventure,_ '" Morgan repeated.

"It's a book code," Spencer realized, "Each one of these sets of numbers represents a particular word. For instance, page 118, line 30, word 3. We need to figure out what the words are and fill in the blanks."

"Yeah, but from what book?" Elle questioned.

"I don't know," Spencer said, "The trouble is it has to be the exact same edition of the exact same book that he used."

"Just got a DNA hit on the lock of hair," JJ said, walking into the conference room, "Rebecca Bryant. She's been missing out of Boston for 2 years."

"2 years?" Emi repeated.

"Guys, how are we supposed to figure out which book this code is copied out of?" Morgan asked.

"I have no idea," Spencer said, watching as JJ walked over to the board and pinned a picture of the victim.

"He said that we had everything to complete the quest," Emi remembered, "So, we probably didn't realize it, but at some point, he gave us clues on what the book is. Now, we just have to find those clues and figure out what book he used."

"JJ, get some reporters here as soon as possible," Gideon said, sticking his head in the doorway.

"For what?"

"Just say we need help on a new case," was Gideon's reply.

"Press conference?" Morgan guessed in confusion.

"But didn't the man say _not_ to get any help?" Emi asked. JJ just shrugged and walked out to follow Gideon's orders.

* * *

"A pale clouded yellow butterfly indigenous to Great Britain," Spencer stated looking at the butterfly in the box.

"How's it going?" Hotch asked.

"The answer to what book we need has to be in here," Spencer said.

"Yeah, but we sure as hell can't see it," Morgan said.

"Yet," Emi added before turning towards Hotch, "Oh, and Elle's asleep."

"What? I'm awake," Elle gasped, waking up after hearing someone say her name.

"Yeah, right," Emi muttered.

"I'm sending you home," Hotch told the brunette.

"No," Elle protested.

"Elle, you need to get some rest," Emi told her.

"We don't do anything without you, I promise," Hotch said.

"Elle, seriously, we're not any closer than we were," Morgan said, "Get out of here. Go home."

"But-"

"That's an order," Hotch said, sternly.

"I'll drive you home," Emi offered, taking Elle's car keys.

"I'm fine," Elle protested.

"Yeah, I'm not losing you to a car crash. I'm driving," Emi insisted.

"Get some sleep. Both of you." When Emi opened her mouth to argue, Hotch gave her a stern look. "Don't think I didn't notice your eyes also drooping."

"You can sleep at my place," Elle offered.

"Thanks."

* * *

When Elle and Emi stepped into Elle's house, Elle went straight to her couch, collapsing on it, whereas Emi made sure to lock Elle's front door.

"Get some sleep," Emi told Elle, "I'm going to go to your kitchen. I need to go make a call. I think I may have just figured out what the book was."

So, that's where Emi was-in the kitchen-when she heard a gunshot echo through the house.

"Elle!" Emi shouted, "Yeah, I'm sorry. I really have to go. Bye." After abruptly ending her call, Emi sprinted to where Elle was supposed to be, stopping when she saw Elle's bloody body on the ground.

"Emi," Elle groaned, barely conscious.

"Elle!" the Asian cried out, hurrying over to her friend, "Elle, stay with me."

"No, Emi. Behind you," Elle managed to say.

"What?"

But before Emi could turn around to see what Elle was talking about, something struck her head. The last thing she heard before she fell unconscious was a raspy voice saying, "I suppose your team will need something else to motivate them. Time for you to meet Rebecca, Emi Hinata."


	12. 2-01 - The Fisher King: Part Two

**A/N: Eek! Look at the new cover I made! I'm really proud of myself. It took me like 2 hours to make (huh, not as long as I thought, but it felt like forever). It's not the best, but I'm still proud of it. Ignore the random umbrella handle Emi's holding (the render came like that, and I couldn't find the original picture). Anywho, here's part two (hehe, that rhymed)!**

* * *

Previously, on _Against the World_...

 _"Elle!" the Asian cried out, hurrying over to her friend, "Elle, stay with me."_

 _"No, Emi. Behind you," Elle managed to say._

 _"What?"_

 _But before Emi could turn around to see what Elle was talking about, something struck her head. The last thing she heard before she fell unconscious was a raspy voice saying, "I suppose your team will need something else to motivate you. Time for you to meet Rebecca, Emi Hinata."_

* * *

When Emi came back to consciousness, the first thing she realized was that she was in a messy, make-shift bedroom.

"What..." Emi looked around the room in a daze. It took her a few seconds to remember what had happened. "Elle!" Emi sat up and tried to get out of the bed she was in, but something held her back. Hearing the noise of metal clanging against something, Emi looked down to see that she was chained up.

"It's no use."

Emi whipped around, pressed her back against the door. In the corner, was a girl-a girl that Emi had seen before.

"Rebecca Bryant?"

The girl's eyes widened. "You-you know me?" she asked.

Emi nodded, "Yes. My team and I-I'm an agent of the FBI-we're looking for you. The man that took you sent us a video, saying that we're on a quest or something. Um, by any chance, did you see a brunette woman with shoulder-length hair? She was shot by the man..."

Rebecca shook her head, "You're the only one he brought here."

"Oh..."

* * *

Meanwhile, the rest of team were in Quantico, unaware of what had happened to Emi and Elle.

"Reid, how many books do you think are published in a year?" Hotch asked as the genius stared intently at the coded paper.

"In the whole world? Thousands."

"Great, and all we gotta do is find one," Morgan scoffed, "You know, I can see this unsub gettin' our phone numbers and addresses from the Bureau personnel files, but come on, man. It really says in there that Gideon digs Nellie Fox?"

"Or that JJ collects butterflies?" Hotch added.

"Or that Emi's mother used to play her ' _The Trout Quintet_ '," Spencer reminded them.

" _I_ didn't even know these things about us," Morgan said, throwing the Nellie Fox card he had been holding onto the table.

"' _Never would it be night, but always clear day to any man's sight,_ '" Spencer muttered.

"Reid, not again with the poem from the music box, please," Morgan begged.

"There's something familiar about it," Spencer said, "I think I've heard it somewhere before."

"Thought you had a photographic memory," Morgan said.

"Eidetic memory," Spencer corrected, "And that's primarily related to things I read. Like I said, this is something I think I've _heard_."

Hotch gave him a questioning look, "Which leaves us..."

"Nowhere, that's where it leaves us," Morgan answered.

"Not necessarily," Gideon said, letting the three men know that he had entered the room, "How would we proceed if we didn't have all these clues? What's the first thing we'd look at?"

"Victimology," Hotch answered.

"Why this particular victim in this particular place at this particular time?" Morgan questioned.

"We have a victim, don't we?" Gideon pointed out.

"Rebecca Bryant," Spencer agreed.

"Missin' out of South Boston, Virginia," Gideon informed them, "You can get there in a few hours if you hurry. Take JJ. Find out everything there is to know about this girl."

"You got it," Morgan said.

"Been lettin' him lead us around like he's somethin' more than he is," Gideon continued.

"He's just another unsub," Hotch realized, "Let's start puttin' together a profile."

"What do you want me to do?" Spencer asked.

"Just keep workin' on this," Gideon told him, "If anybody can put it together, you can."

* * *

"Are you okay?" Emi asked Rebecca-before quickly adding, "Physically."

Rebecca had started coughing constantly, and as the time passed, her coughs started to get more violent.

The coughing girl didn't respond, she simply just crawled off her bed and stumbled towards the door.

"Please help me," she said weakly, facing a security camera that was in the room.

* * *

"Anderson?" Hotch called, walking towards the man, "Agent Greenaway left her bag here, can you go to her house and drop it off?"

"Certainly, sir."

* * *

"'Possible Book Titles,'" Spencer muttered, staring at the words he wrote on the white board, "Thousands of books published every year. This is impossible, I need Emi..." he froze, suddenly thinking of something, "Year...every year..." he searched through the items on the conference table before picking up the Nellie Fox baseball card. "1963." Taking one last look at the card in his hand, Spencer dashed over to Gideon's office.

"The book has to be the right volume and the right publication date or the code won't work, right?" Spencer said to Gideon.

"Okay."

"Now when you talk about Nellie Fox, it's in regards to the 1959 White Sox. That's the year that's important to you, but for some reason, this is a 1963 card," Spencer pointed out.

"Well, maybe he couldn't have a '59," Gideon suggested.

"You think a pale clouded yellow butterfly was easy to find," Spencer countered, "Or a music box that specifically plays ' _The Trout Quintet_ '?"

"So a book published in 1963," Gideon summarized.

"It has to be," Spencer said before doubting himself, "Maybe..."

"The guy who delivered the puzzle to my house just turned himself in," Hotch told Gideon and Spencer, poking his head into the office.

Gideon got out of his chair of follow Hotch, whereas Spencer decided to make a trip to Garcia's lair.

* * *

"This guy is infuriatingly good," Garcia said to Spencer through gritted teeth, "He routed his IP through major corporations, crisscrossed it through countries, bounced it off satellites-"

"I thought you already tracked the hacker," Spencer interrupted.

"No, I only found what he wanted me to find," Garcia grumbled, "Apartment where Giles was dead. Reid a hacker capable of getting into my systems is going to have amazingly sophisticated equipment. Did Giles's apartment have that?"

"He didn't have a couch," Spencer replied.

"Exactly. Giles was a smokescreen I should have seen through," Garcia said, "But now I have this glorious program I wrote, tracking the hacker through his other identity-Sir Kneighf."

Spencer leaned over Garcia's shoulders to stare at the name. "K-N-E-I-G-H-F," he spelled out, "That's an odd spelling."

Not liking how he was practically breathing on her, Garcia turned to face Spencer. "Do you need something?"

Realizing how close they were, Spencer backed away. "Yeah, is-is there a database, which lists all the books published in a given year?"

"Individual publishers have lists," Garcia told him, "But I don't think there's anything like a master one, plus it would depend upon the year, because the further back you go, the less likely there'll be any database at all."

"1963."

"Yeah, okay, that would be an example of extremely less likely," Garcia said.

"Could you do me a favor-uh-type something into a search engine for me?" Spencer requested, "' _Never would it be night, but always clear day to any man's sight._ '"

"Okay, that's from a poem," Garcia stated, reading the information that popped up, "' _The Parliament of-_ '"

"' _Fowls_!'" Spencer finished, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! Chaucer, my-my mom use to read me that. It's widely considered as the first Valentine's poem."

"Your mom read you Valentine's poems?" Garcia repeated in amused disbelief, "Hello therapy."

"Chaucer..." Spencer repeated to himself, "Chaucer. ' _Parliament of Fowls_.' Fowls, ' _Parliament of Fowls_ ,' Chaucer. It has to be at least 283 pages long, but the poem has to be longer. Something published in 1963. A butterfly indigenous to Great Britain. Why? Something born, something from Great Britain. Medieval. Medieval, Chaucer. Chaucer was Middle English. Middle English spelling of the word 'Fowls...' F-O-W-L-E-S...

"There was a contemporary British author-Fowles," Spencer said, loudly for Garcia to hear, "John Fowles. Will you type it into a search engine?"

"Uh...he wrote ' _The Magus,_ ' he wrote ' _The French Lieutenant's Woman,_ '" Garcia listed.

"Anything in 1963 published in Great Britain?" Spencer asked.

"' _The Collector_.'"

"Collector," Spencer repeated, "Baseball cards, skeleton keys, music boxes. These are things that are collected. ' _The Collector_ ' is actually one of Emi's favorite books!"

"So, I suppose it's safe for me to assume that you _do_ need this book?" Surprised to hear a new voice, Garcia and Spencer turned around to see Haru standing in the doorway.

"Haru? What are you doing here?" Spencer asked in confusion.

"Um, I asked someone where you were, and they lead me to here. Oh, and Emi had called me a few hours earlier saying that she accidentally left this book at our parents' house. Honestly, I had to go on a 4 hour flight _just_ to bring this to her."

"Reid," Garcia whispered, staring at the book in Haru's hand. Spencer nodded to show her that he saw it, too.

On the cover of Emi's copy of ' _The Collector_ ' was a skeleton key, a pale clouded yellow butterfly, and a lock of blonde hair.

* * *

"We know what the book is," Spencer told Gideon and Hotch as they just exited the interrogation room. "' _The Collector_ ' by John Fowles."

"You sure?"

"Not absolutely," Spencer said, "Not until we see if the code works, but Haru, Emi's brother, is here with her copy. It's the exact edition we needed, too."

"Her brother?" Gideon repeated as both he and Hotch realized that there was a new person with them.

Haru gave them an awkward, two-finger salute, "Yo. Oh, and I just remembered," he turned to face Spencer, a concerned look now on his face, "Is my sister okay?"

Spencer exchanged furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"I was talking on the phone with her about an 45 minutes or so," Haru explained, "And I think I heard a gunshot from her side. She also ended our call abruptly, so I was just wondering if anything happened to her."

Before Spencer could reply, another woman walked over towards the group.

"Agent Gideon, there's a call for you on line 2, says it's extremely urgent," the woman said.

"Is there a name?" Gideon asked.

"Sort of. He calls himself the 'Fisher King,'" the woman told him, showing them a notepad with the name written on it.

Spencer took the notepad and stared at it, his mind rearranging the letters. "This could be the unsub, guys," Spencer said.

"Why?" Hotch asked.

"In mythology, the Fisher King is the Grail King," Spencer explained, "'Sir Kneighf,' it's an anagram...for 'Fisher King.'"

"Fisher King's at the end of all grail quests," Gideon stated, staring at Garcia, who looked down, guiltily.

"Line 2 trapped and traced," Hotch ordered as they all entered the bullpen.

"Gideon," Gideon said, answering the call.

" _What I had to do was not my fault_ ," the man said.

"Excuse me?"

" _It was distasteful and barbaric._ "

"Who is this?"

" _No one else had to be hurt._ "

"Call yourself 'the Fisher King'?" Gideon taunted.

" _I told you there were rules_ ," the man continued, ignoring Gideon's taunt.

"I'm actually more interested in exactly how you got all those burns," Gideon said.

The other side was silent for a moment, but then the man continued talking, " _Remember this next time you decide to step outside my instructions. Agent Greenaway did not have to die like that. And to make sure you'll never do it again, I have taken Agent Hinata has leverage._ "

The dial tone signaled the end of the call, but no one was paying attention to that. They were trying to wrap their heads around what the Fisher King had just said.

"Emi's...been taken?" Spencer managed to whisper.

* * *

"Spencer, you have got to calm down," Haru said after watching Spencer pace around in a circle, like, 50 times.

"I can't calm down. Emi's been taken!" Spencer snapped, "How can _you_ be so calm? Your sister's been taken!"

"I know," Haru growled, inhaling sharply, "I know, Spencer, I know. But how would Emi want us to act, huh? 'Cause she'd certainly not want you to panic like this. Remember what she would tell you? ' _Panicking only causes stress, and stressing_ -'"

"' _-only causes panic_ ,'" Spencer finished, slowly taking a deep breath, "Thanks, Haru. I needed that."

Haru gave Spencer a pat on the back before sitting back on the table, Emi's book on his lap. He turned to look at the blonde techie who was standing near a now empty whiteboard. "You two ready?"

"Yep."

Spencer nodded. "Yeah. Okay, so I'm gonna read you a set of three numbers. The first is gonna be a page number, the second a line number on that page, and the third, a word number in that line."

Haru quietly groaned, "Oh, this is gonna be hell."

The corner's of Spencer's mouth twitched up a bit as he turned towards the enlarged picture of the coded message. "All right, the first is page 222."

Haru flipped to the right page then repeated the page number to let Spencer know he was there. "Page 222."

"Line 23."

"Line 23."

"What is the 16th word on that line?" Spencer asked.

Haru narrowed his eyes and squinted at the book to focus. "Uh...' _The_.'"

Hearing that, Garcia wrote the word on the board.

"Page 91...Line 11...Word 13."

"Hold on..." Haru murmured, quickly flipping to the page. A few seconds later, he looked up. "' _Path_.'"

"' _The path_ ,'" Spencer said, stringing the two words together, "That makes sense! That absolutely makes sense!"

"It actually doesn't, but because you're the genius, I'm just gonna agree with you," Haru said, nodding along, "Shall we continue?"

"Okay, so turn to page 31..."

* * *

"' _The path to the end began at his start_ _. To find her first calm her long broken heart. She sits in a window with secrets from her knight. Is it adventure that keeps him out of her sight?_ '" Garcia said, reading the finished decoded message.

"Oh, great. A riddle," Haru groaned, "Of course this guy takes the one who loves solving riddles."

"Emi loves riddles?" Garcia asked, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Yeah," Haru confirmed, a look of nostalgia on his face, "When we were younger, she and Spencer would always have scavenger hunts with riddles. My brother and I...we tried to play once, but our minds never worked fast enough."

As Haru was telling Garcia this, Spencer was staring at the riddle, mumbling to himself.

" _Never would it be night, but always clear day_ ," he said, picking up the picture of the riddle he had just said, "That'd be-that'd be bright lights. It's never night in Las Vegas."

"Excuse me?" Garcia said, confused at Spencer's random statement. Spencer ignored her though as he quickly grabbed the phone, dialing a number.

"I need to be connected to the field office closest to Las Vegas, Nevada, immediately," he said into the phone, "Hi. This is Dr. Spencer Reid with the Behavior Analysis Unit at Quantico. Look, I need my mother picked up and brought to Virginia in protective custody as soon as possible...We're searching for an unsub who shot one of our agents and kidnapped a different one today, and I think he might know my mother, and I believe she may be in danger. Yes. She's at the Bennington Sanitarium in Las Vegas. Her name's Diana Reid. She's a patient there."

* * *

"She's okay-your mom," Garcia said to Spencer, walking over to where he sat at Emi's desk. Haru sat on the edge of the desk, playing with a little stuff animal that Emi had on her desk. "Agents picked her up. She's flying here right now," Garcia told them.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Spencer?" Haru asked, looking up from the stuff animal, "Your mom isn't exactly a big fan of flying..."

"I forgot she used to always read me this poem," Spencer said, referring to the poem in his hand. Haru rolled his eyes, knowing that Spencer was purposely avoiding the subject. "It's funny, huh?"

"Funny?" Garcia repeated, confused.

"I should have realized sooner," Spencer clarified, "I mean, nobody knows things like the fact that JJ collects butterflies except for me. People tell me their secrets all the time. Think it's 'cause they know I don't have anyone to betray them to...except my mother and Emi. I...I tell them pretty much everything."

"I don't think anyone would mind," Garcia reassured him.

"Do you know that I write her a letter every day?" Spencer stated, referring to his mother.

"That's nice," Garcia smiled.

"It depends on _why_ I write her," Spencer countered.

The smile fell off Garcia's face. "What do you mean?"

"I write her letters so I won't feel so guilty about not visiting her," Spencer admitted.

"Spencer..." Haru said softly, a sad look on his face.

Spencer stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small pouch. He began to fiddle with the strings tying the pouch closed. "Did you know that schizophrenia is genetically passed?" Spencer questioned, looking down at his hands.

"Spencer, you _don't_ have schizophrenia," Haru said sternly.

Spencer looked up and stared at Haru, his eyes showing defeat. "You don't know that for sure."

* * *

The sound of the door opening caught Emi's attention.

"Please," Emi begged the man. She was currently rubbing Rebecca's back in hopes of soothing her body into stopping the coughs, "Rebecca's sick."

"I brought you two dinner," the man said, placing the tray in his hand onto the bed, "It's chicken."

"She doesn't need chicken, she needs a doctor," Emi argued.

"She likes chicken," the man pressed, taking the plates off the tray.

"No, no," Rebecca protested, clutching the man's arm, "Just take the chains off us."

"No," the man refused, "You'll try to escape."

"No, we won't," Rebecca disagreed, "I promise."

The man didn't listen and turned to walk away. "I'll be back for your tray in half an hour."

Angry, Rebecca grabbed the tray and hit the man with it. "Why don't you just kill me, you son of a bitch?!" she screamed.

The man just turned back around and smiled at her sadly. "Because I love you too much, Rebecca."

"Oh, Rebecca," Emi said, pulling the girl down and into her arms. As Rebecca sobbed against Emi's shirt, the Asian woman glared at the man who had kidnapped her. "I think it's best if you go."

The man stepped forward to comfort the sobbing girl, but decided against it and left the room.

* * *

"So, would you like one bag or two bags of sugar cubes to go with that coffee?" Haru joked as he watched Spencer pour coffee into his mug.

"That's why you're so skinny, you know." Surprised, the two boys turned to see Diana Reid nervously standing a few feet away from them. "Too much coffee," Spencer's mother clarified.

"Thanks a lot, guys. We've got her," Spencer said, thanking the two agents standing behind his mom.

"You know I'm terrified of flying," Mrs. Reid grumbled.

"I know, Mom. I'm sorry," Spencer apologized.

"Well, then why did you have those fascists arrest me?" she countered.

Haru quietly snorted. "Mrs. Reid, they're not fascists," he told Spencer's mom.

"And you were not arrested," Spencer added, "I'm trying to protect you."

"By forcing me to do the one thing that frightens me more than anything else?" his mom retorted.

"Told you you shouldn't have done it," Haru muttered into Spencer's ear.

Spencer waved Haru's comment aside and sighed. "I need to show you something," he told his mom, "Follow me."

* * *

Spencer took his mother to the conference room. At some point, Haru slipped away and went to visit Garcia thinking that he probably shouldn't ruin Spencer's alone time with his mother.

"This is where you work?" Mrs. Reid asked looking around the conference room in distaste.

"This is where we _meet_ ," Spencer corrected, "Uh, my desk, you can see it, it's right out there in the bullpen area."

His mother made a face at the mention of the bullpen area and moved to inspect the conference table. "The table's round."

"Yeah, just like I wrote you in my letters," Spencer pointed out.

"Yes, just like you wrote in your letters," Mrs. Reid agreed. "Dr. Jessen gave me the book you brought. _Majorie Kemp_."

Spencer nodded, "She's your favorite."

"That particular book is one of her minor works," she said. Suddenly, she walked over to one of the boards and ripped a small piece of paper off.

"Mom, no! Don't to-don't!" Spencer exclaimed, rushing over to his mother and taking the paper from her. "You can't grab stuff off the board," he chided, placing the paper into an evidence bag, "This key is evidence." Seeing how uncomfortable his mother looked, Spencer took a deep breath to calm down. "Mom, the unsub that we're looking for...the-the bad guy knows things about my colleagues' personal lives, things that only _you_ would know. Do you write about them in your journals?"

"My journals are none of the government's business!" Mrs. Reid exclaimed, shouting the last phrase loudly.

"I'm not the government, Mom," Spencer denied.

"Well, this certainly looks like a government office," Mrs. Reid retorted.

"Mother, do you write about my colleagues' personal lives?" Spencer pressed.

Again, Mrs. Reid didn't answer, and instead, placed her head in her hands. "Why did you bring me here, Spencer? And where is Emi?"

Spencer fell silent for a few seconds, unsure about whether he should tell her what happened to Emi or not. Making his decision, Spencer opened his mouth to continue his attempts of getting his mother to answer his questions. "I need to ask you some things about a man I think you might know. A bad man. He's killed some people, and he's holding two girls hostages-one of them's Emi."

"Emi's been taken?" Mrs. Reid gasped.

Feeling the sudden rush of panic caused by that statement, Spencer looked away and took some deep breaths to calm himself down. "Will you just watch the tape and see if he sounds familiar?"

Seeing his mother give him quick, small nods, Spencer rushed over to the conference table to pull out a chair for his mother to sit in. After seating her, Spencer grabbed the remote from the table and pressed play.

When the unsub in the video started talking, Spencer noticed a look of shock and realization appear on his mother's face. After the man said a few more lines, Spencer paused the video. "You do know him?"

"I'm sure it's...Randall Garner," Mrs. Reid said.

"Randall Garner?"

"He was with me at the hospital. He's a very emotionally disturbed man," Mrs. Reid explained.

"Reid, I got to the end of the IP string," Garcia said, rushing into the room with Haru quickly on her tail. "Sir Kneighf, the Fisher King, his name is Randall Garner. He's Rebecca Bryant's biological father.

"And I'm assuming by the look on your face that your mom recognized him, too?" Haru guessed, causing Spencer to reluctantly nod.

* * *

"I can't believe she's real," Mrs. Reid mumbled as she paced back and forth.

Garcia and Spencer looked up from their work, startled by that statement.

"What do you mean?" Garcia asked.

"Whenever he talked about Rebecca, he never said she was his daughter," Mrs. Reid told them, "He said all his children died in the fire. He spoke of _a_ Rebecca, more in the abstract. I really thought she was a metaphor, not an actual human being. An ideal."

"A grail," Spencer inputted, "He thinks he's the Fisher King."

"Who does?" Morgan asked as he and JJ walked into the room. He then noticed Haru in the room. "Who's he?"

"Randall Garner, our unsub."

"He believes you're all modern-day knights of the round table," Mrs. Reid realized.

"If people's lives weren't on the line, I would think that it was actually pretty cool," Haru commented.

Before Morgan could even ask who the two new people were, Spencer quickly introduced them. "Uh, Derek Morgan, this is my mother, Diana Reid-"

"It's your mother?" Morgan repeated, a little surprised, "Ma'am, it's a...it's a pleasure to meet you."

"And over there is-"

"Haru Hinata," Haru said, interrupting Spencer's introduction. He walked over to JJ and picked her hand, giving her forehand a soft kiss. "I'm Emi's older brother."

JJ let out a soft chuckle of amusement, "I'm-"

"Jennifer Jareau," Haru finished, "Emi's told me a lot about you."

"Haru, stop it," Spencer said, "Emi wouldn't want you flirting with her friends."

"Gosh darn," Haru sighed, backing away from JJ.

"So where are we on finding this son of a bitch?" Everyone turned to see Hotch storm into the room.

"I rechecked all the clues. There's nothing that points to an address," Spencer told him as everyone sat down.

"The adoption records for Rebecca listed an address of the fire, so I made a call to Nevada, and it's vacant. No one ever rebuilt," JJ informed them.

"Nevada? So we don't even know what state he's in?" Hotch questioned.

"I'll search the tax records," Garcia said, "See if he owns any property."

"Excuse me," Mrs. Reid interrupted.

"Mom, we're-"

"Just before the agents got me from the hospital, a man delivered this to me." Mrs. Reid reached into her bag and pulled out a picture. "It's a photo of a house with an address on the back."

"Shiloh, Virginia?" Morgan read, "That's only 10 miles from here."

* * *

Spencer, Hotch, Morgan, and the SWAT team searched through the house before stopping at a table that held both Elle's and Emi's credentials. Now more certain than ever, the team split up and continued to search through the house until Spencer heard a noise from upstairs. At Spencer's call, the team moved up the stairs and into one of the side halls before leaning against the walls of the hallway.

Seeing a door slightly ajar and some light coming from it, Spencer moved to peer into the room before nodding at Morgan. "He's in there."

"Alright. Cover me, I'm going in," Morgan ordered.

"What?" Spencer whispered, "Wait, wait, wait, wait."

"What? What?"

"Mr. Garner?" Spencer called loudly, "My name's Spencer Reid. You were in the hospital with my mother. I think...I think she might have confused you. All we want to do is help Rebecca. That's exactly what you want, right? That's why you sent us the puzzles? That's why you said you hoped you'd be seeing us soon?"

"Ask the question."

"There is no magical question, Mr. Garner," Spencer said before quietly explaining to Morgan and Hotch. "He believes if I ask him the right question, it'll heal all of his wounds."

"Do you know the question?" Hotch asked.

"I know what he wants," Spencer said, "I'm gonna move to where he can see me."

"Reid!"

"Reid, no!"

"Fall back," Spencer ordered, ignoring their protests. He handed a nearby SWAT member his gun before slowly moving towards Garner's office.

"Stay calm, Mr. Garner," Spencer told him.

"Ask the question, Sir Percival."

"I told you, I'm not Percival," Spencer said, "My name is Dr. Spencer Reid from the FBI. You were in the hospital with my mother, Diana?"

"If you want your queen and the grail you must ask the question!"

"She's not a grail!" Spencer corrected, "She's your daughter. Her name's Rebecca."

"My daughters died in a fire and my son and my wife," Garner said.

Spencer shook his head. "Rebecca lived."

"No. Your mother, she explained it all to me," Garner countered.

"My mother's a paranoid schizophrenic who'd forget to eat if she wasn't properly medicated and supervised," Spencer shouted.

"She made me realize none of it was real," Garner continued, "I didn't lost Rebecca. She-She never existed in the first place."

"She does exist, Mr. Garner," Spencer insisted. At this point, he had reached the door and was slowly pushing it further open. "And we're here to help her." When the door was fully open, it revealed Randall Garner sitting in his chair. He had bombs strapped onto him, and his thumb was hovering over the trigger.

"Hotch, Morgan?" Spencer called out to his fellow teammates, "I think maybe it'd be better if you guys waited downstairs. Mr. Garner and I are just gonna talk alone up here."

"Go ahead and talk, Reid, but we're not goin' anywhere," Morgan told him.

"Ask the question, and I'll be healed," Garner grunted, "And you may take the grail and your precious queen. Just ask the question, Sir Knight."

Spencer shook his head, "I can't."

"Heal me!"

"Mr. Garner, a Fisher King wound cannot be healed by somebody else," Spencer told the man, "It's not a wound to the body. It's a wound to the memory. Wound to the mind. It's...It's a wound that only you can find, and a wound that only you can heal."

"Just ask the question."

"There's only one question that matters, Mr. Garner," Spencer said, "There's only one really important question...Can you forgive yourself?"

Mr. Garner took a shaky breath. "I couldn't get to them," he said.

Spencer nodded. "If you tell me where she are, you can save Rebecca now. Tell me where Emi and Rebecca are."

"You already know," Mr. Garner sighed, "I sent your mother the map."

Spencer tilted his head. "What map?"

"Can I forgive myself?" Mr. Garner asked, repeated the question that Spencer had asked him. Predicting where this was going to go, Spencer started to slowly back out of the room. "No, I can't."

Hearing those words, Spencer turned and broke into an all-out sprint. "Run!" After he cried that, there was an explosion and Spencer was thrown down the hallway.

"Don't move Reid, don't move," Morgan ordered, quickly patting Spencer's flamed pants with a tapestry.

"Get him out," Hotch said, "Get-let go-let's go." Both he and Morgan pulled Spencer up and dragged him down the hall, trying to escape the fire.

"What the hell was that?" Hotch demanded.

"He had a bomb," Spencer coughed.

"You didn't think we needed to know that?" Morgan questioned.

"I told you to go downstairs," Spencer argued.

"Well, you didn't say bomb. You let that part out," Morgan retorted.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop," Spencer exclaimed.

"What do you mean stop?!" Morgan shouted, "The house is on fire, Reid. Let's go!"

"Just let me think, let me think!" Spencer cried, "He's the Fisher King, this is his castle, Emi and Rebecca's got to be here."

"Reid, there may not be time for a search," Hotch said, "Let's go."

"Hotch, my _girlfriend_ is in this house somewhere," Spencer snapped before muttering to himself, "Location's on the map that he gave to my mom.

"Reid, all she told us about was that photo," Morgan shouted, getting impatient, "Let's go!"

Suddenly, Spencer thought of something, his eyes widening in realization. "Down-They're in the basement downstairs!"

"How do you know that?!" Morgan questioned, following the genius downstairs.

* * *

"We're in here!" Emi shouted as Rebecca tried to pull on their chains. She heard faint voices calling their names. "Down here!"

"Is the house on fire?!" Rebecca shouted.

"They're in here." Emi let out a sigh of relief when she recognized Spencer's voice. "Emi!"

"Spencer!" Emi exclaimed, "We're chained."

"Get us out of here," Rebecca cried as Hotch rushed over to help free them.

"Here I got the bed," Morgan said, pulling the bed aside.

"Hurry!"

"He called me Sir Percival," Spencer stated.

"The key, Spencer, the key. ' _The youngest holds the key!_ '" Emi reminded him, "Do you have the key!"

Spencer's hands darted into his pockets before pulling out a key. He quickly inserted it into the key hole, unlocking Emi's chain, before moving to unlock Rebecca's. Spencer pulled Emi into his arms before carrying her out of the building. At some point, the smoke from the fire finally got to Emi and she passed out.

* * *

When Emi awoke again, she found herself in a hospital room, in a hospital bed.

"The doctor said that you're lucky." Emi turned to see Spencer standing in the doorway. "The smoke didn't do too much damage-in fact, very little damage-and you probably only have a minor concussion.

"Woohoo," Emi cheered to lighten the mood. Spencer chuckled and moved to sit in the chair next to Emi's bed. "How's Elle and Rebecca?"

"Rebecca's fine," Spencer told her, "And the doctors told her that Elle will recover."

"Oh, thank God," Emi sighed. She then bit her lips and looked up at him. "So...you saved me."

Spencer nodded. "I saved you."

"And what should I reward my knight with?" Emi asked playfully.

The boy genius licked his lips before sheepishly smiling at her, "Well, I might know something..."

Emi giggled and motioned for Spencer to near her. When he was close enough, Emi pulled Spencer into a passionate kiss.

When they pulled apart, Spencer smiled at her before looking down, fidgeting nervously. "Um...Emi?"

"Hm?"

"So...we-we've been dating for a while now," Spencer started, "5 years, 4 months, and 26 days to be exact. And, um...I was going to do this earlier-much earlier actually...around our 5th year anniversary, but then we got busy with cases and there was never really time...So, uh, I was actually going to ask you this is back when we were in Vegas, but then the Fisher King stuff came up and our vacation got cut short..."

"Spencer, you're rambling," Emi said with a giggle.

"Right, sorry," Spencer said, "I guess what I'm trying to ask is...um..." Spencer's hand slipped into his pocket and he pulled out a pouch. Reaching inside, he pulled out a silver ring with a small, simple diamond on it. "Do you wanna get married? Oh, wait, no. I said that wrong...I mean-"

"Yes," Emi interrupted, her eyes brimming with tears, "Yes, I will marry you!" She grabbed Spencer's tie and pulled him in for a kiss. When they pulled apart, Spencer slipped the ring onto Emi's finger before staring at her with loving eyes.

"I love you, Emi."

"And I love you, Spencer Reid."

* * *

 **A/N: Woohoo! They're engaged now! And they will be for a long time (because I have no idea how to write a wedding scene). I think maybe I'll have them be engaged for maybe seasons 2 and 3, then get married season 4? I don't really know, yet. But yay! It might take me a while to update because now I need to focus on school as well as write a chapter for my other fanfiction. Anywho, I hope you guys enjoyed this new chapter!**


	13. 2-02 - P911

**Review Responses:**

 **ahowell1993, artemis7448, and Guest: thanks you for your suggestions. They helped me a lot when I made my decision. Hopefully you guys will approve of it.**

 **SakuraRcoa: Yay! I'm really happy that you want to reread this story. That makes me really happy knowing that there are people that enjoy my stories and style of writing. I hope you enjoy this chapter, too!**

* * *

"Hey, are you feeling okay?" Emi gave her fiance a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

"That was the fourth time you visited the bathroom in the..." Spencer checked his watch, "Last 2 hours. You've been visiting the bathroom a lot more often in the past 2 weeks, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Emi reassured him, picking up the wedding magazine she had placed on the table. After glancing at a few pages, she threw the magazine back onto the table in defeat. "Ugh, I can't do this anymore!"

Spencer gave her a confused look. "What do you mean? We've only just started looking at the vendors."

"I don't know," Emi sighed, "It just seems so overwhelming. And the cost, too! Weddings are just so expensive. Be honest, Spence, do you _really_ want to have a wedding?"

Spencer made a face and shook his head. "Not really, no," he admitted.

Emi let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God! Come on, then. I have a much faster and easier way to get married."

* * *

"Spencer Reid and Emi Hinata," Morgan called as the couple walked over to where he, Garcia, and JJ sat at his desk, "How is our engaged couple?"

"Actually it's Spencer and Emi _Reid_ now," Emi said, holding up her left hand. On her ring finger was her engagement-now wedding-ring.

"You got married?!" Garcia exclaimed, "When?! Last time I saw you, you two were still engaged-and that was _yesterday_!"

"We did it this morning," Spencer answered, "We just came from the registry office where we got legally married."

"B-But a wedding..." Garcia said, a little crestfallen.

Emi gave her friend an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Garcia. Spencer and I just...we don't like the whole idea of spending a lot of money on a wedding. We just wanted to get married."

"So were your witnesses?" JJ asked.

"Hotch and Elle," Spencer answered, "Hotch was the only one who we knew would still be awake at the time we decided on just going to the registry office, and Elle would've killed me if she wasn't there."

"How is Elle?" JJ wondered.

"She's fine," Emi told her, "Bored out of her mind, but fine."

"So, have you started working on getting children, yet?" Morgan asked his newly wedded friends.

Emi laughed, "Morgan, we've only been married for like two hours. We haven't even been on our honeymoon," Emi said, jokingly rolling her eyes, "But Spencer and I have both agreed to wait until we have a more stable lifestyle before trying to have a child. With the both of us in the FBI business where we could be called in for a case at, literally, anytime, it wouldn't be right to put a child through that."

"I guess," Garcia sighed, "But I've always wanted to see little baby Geniuses running around here."

"In due time, Garcia," Emi chuckled, "In due time."

* * *

"40,000 images of child porn are posted every week on the internet, along with the appearance of 20 new children," Spencer stated. "The appetite for babies as young as 4 months old has soared. Many of these children have been kidnapped and sold into pedophile rings."

The team-par a certain brunette-were in the conference room, watching a video of a boy that had been missing.

"One year ago, the same boy appeared on several websites used by pedophiles. He was a new face then," Gideon said, "After a massive hunt led by our crimes against children unit, the boy disappeared."

"Until tonight when SSA Cole telephoned us," Hotch added.

"Katie Cole?" Morgan questioned.

"She was in the BAU, right?" Spencer asked.

"One of the first profilers, clinical psychologists, brilliant," Gideon listed.

"She runs the Crimes Against Children unit in Maryland," Hotch told them.

"I always wanted to meet her," Morgan admitted.

"Really? I heard she's a bitch," a woman said lightly as she walked into the room.

"Nobody ever called you that, Katie," Gideon reassured her.

"Well, not to my face." Katie looked up at the video and sighed. "The first time I ever saw him, he appeared in a series of photos. I named him Peter. Now he's being auctioned off when that clock runs to zero."

Emi shook her head in disbelief. "Auctioned."

"His face isn't pixelated," Gideon noticed.

"'Cause the unsub is confident that we're not going to be able to identify him in time," Hotch said.

"What about the site itself?" JJ asked, "Can't we just track their origins?"

"It's routed through a proxy server in Belarus," Katie informed her, "Even if that government was friendly, Peter'd be gone before we finished the paperwork."

"We don't need to worry about the paperwork," JJ said.

Emi smiled, seeing where JJ was going with that sentence. "We've got Garcia," she said proudly.

JJ and Emi exchanged smiles before JJ left to go to Garcia.

"So, what happened a year ago, Katie?" Hotch asked.

"We cross-referenced the images of the boy. We talked to known offender nationwide. We narrowed the location down to the eastern United States. We had some suspects in, but the trail went cold, until today," Katie listed.

"With all due respect, Miss Cole," Morgan said, "How is this time going to be any different?"

"We have a starting point," Katie said.

"The location where the image was first discovered-" Hotch started to say.

"A chat room," Katie inputted, "Hosted by an independent web company in Cleveland, Ohio. And this time, I am bringing you all in with me."

Morgan raised his eyebrows at the woman before leaning to mutter to Emi and Spencer. "Looks like you'll be spending your honeymoon in Ohio."

* * *

Spencer and Emi were walking to go get some coffee when the elevator nearby opened and a familiar woman walked out.

"Elle Greenaway, is that you?" Emi gasped, rushing over to give her friend a hug.

"Why yes it is, Emi Hinata," Elle replied, hugging her back, "Or should I say, ' _Mrs. Spencer Reid_.'"

"I love your new haircut," Emi complimented.

Elle subconsciously touched it. "Thanks, I got it done after your marriage," she said before turning to Spencer, "And I forgot to tell you earlier, but nice haircut, Reid."

"Yeah, thanks," Spencer said.

"Is that a boy's regular?" Elle guessed.

"Yeah, it is," Spencer said, "I wanted to try a nice style and Emi suggested it for me. Why? Do you not like it?"

"It's totally you," Elle reassured him.

"I didn't think you were back 'till next week," Hotch said, walking up to them.

Elle awkwardly looked down. "Oh, um, I got a text message, so..."

"Then it was a mistake."

"Is there a case?" Elle asked.

"Not until you're healthy," Hotch told her.

"Yesterday I found myself looking forward to watching a soap opera," Elle confessed.

"Which one?" Spencer couldn't help but ask.

"Not now," Emi whispered.

"Please, can you put me back to work, Hotch?" Elle begged.

"The doctor hasn't cleared you for the field," Hotch countered.

"Please, Hotch."

"You need more time."

"I've been out for 4 months," Elle said, "What I need is to go back to work."

After staring at her for a few seconds, Hotch let out a reluctant sigh. "We're going to Cleveland," he told her, "Reid's going to the Crimes Against Children Division. Go with him."

Elle opened her mouth to protest, "But I can-"

"Or go home," Hotch said, already walking off.

Emi, Spencer, and Elle all watched Hotch walk down the hallway before turning back to each other. Emi smiled at the other two and patted their shoulders. "Try not to have too much fun without me."

* * *

"Hey, Emi, you feeling okay?" Morgan asked as he watched Emi walk back to her seat on the plane.

"What is it with you and Spencer constantly asking me if I'm feeling okay?" Emi grumbled, "I'm fine."

"You just puked in the plane bathroom," Morgan pointed out, "And it's not very like you to get motion sickness."

"I'm just feeling a little under the weather, that's all. I'm fine," Emi reassured Morgan. When the plane abruptly started to violently shake, Emi quickly gripped the arm rests. "Oh, boy. Gotta love turbulences."

"The world would be better off without them," Katie agreed as she walked down the aisle. "The image was uploaded to one of our CAC undercovers fishing in the chat room," Katie told the four members of the BAU that were on the plane, "We try to monitor as many of them as we can, pretending to be children, pedophiles, whatever works on that site."

"Did you run forensic linguistics on the chat log?" Hotch asked, "There might be something to Hugz' speech patterns."

Katie shook her head. "It doesn't really work that way with internet talk-" She was cut off by another violent turbulence.

"Fear of flying?" Gideon guessed, causing the woman to look at him. "Lengthy, deep-rooted issues of control?"

"I-think better on my feet," Katie said.

Emi chuckled, "Be glad Spencer's not here. He would've given you a lot of statistics about flying and stuff."

"Thank God he's not here, then," Katie muttered, shuddering at the realization that she's flying. "Anyway, back to the situation...most of the talk is abbreviated text-LOL, Laughing out loud."

"Funny how we actually don't usually laugh out loud when we text that," Emi inputted.

"IMHO," Katie continued, "In my humble opinion. BTW-"

"By the way," Gideon finished, looking a little smug and proud of himself.

"Right," Katie confirmed before being taken aback, "Wait, how do _you_ know that?"

Emi snorted at the smug look on Gideon's face. "I taught him that word," she told Katie, "After Hotch sent Garcia, our tech analyst, flowers and claimed that Gideon sent them."

Katie opened her mouth, paused, then closed it. "You know what, I'm not gonna ask. Anyway, uh, pedophiles can be divided into two categories-" Another turbulence.

"Do you want to maybe sit down?" Emi offered, gesturing to vacant seat beside her.

"Yeah."

Hotch patted the woman's shoulder as she sat down and continued what she was saying. "Situational and preferential. Situational offenders rarely seek out children, but they'll take advantage of a situation when presented with it, whereas preferential offenders actively target children by age group, hair color...they'll seek out jobs which give them as much access to children as possible."

"They often trawl around residential neighborhoods," Katie added, "Hijacking home wireless systems and communicating with children often outside the very house the child is in. Or they'll simply use a wireless coffee shop to find, locate, and arrange a meeting. And it's growing. It's growing as fast as the internet. They're getting smarter and smarter, and all the security in the world can't stop them from coming through our doors. Hell, the monsters are already in our homes."

"If he's had this kid for a year, it makes him preferential," Hotch concluded.

"Definitely."

"So, then why is he selling him?" Morgan wondered as another turbulence happened.

"Maybe, he's losing interest," Emi guessed.

Katie nodded in agreement. "Peter's maybe getting too old, too tall. Preferential offenders are very specific about their preferences."

"And if he can't sell him?" Morgan questioned, earning no reply from Katie.

"He isn't going to just let him go," Gideon said.

Morgan's laptop beeped, signalling an incoming call. Morgan answered it, and the faces of JJ and Garcia popped onto the screen.

" _Hotch_?" JJ called.

"Yeah?"

" _Yeah, I was thinking, shouldn't we release Peter's picture to the media?_ " JJ asked.

"No. No, no," Katie rejected immediately, "If the unsub thinks that we're on to him, he may make a run for it and dispose of the boy."

"Shouldn't we assume he does know?" Gideon questioned.

"As I said, we intercepted this image as part of an undercover operation," Katie said, "These predators have a fairly closed society. The way they run these sites gives them the expectation of anonymity."

"Right."

"Have Reid and Elle check the live feed," Hotch ordered, "Not just the boy, but everything around him-the room. See if we missed anything."

"Ok."

"Yeah."

"Send the two my love!" Emi called, earning a thumbs up from Garcia right before the call ended.

* * *

Emi, Morgan, Hotch, Gideon, and Katie marched into the Net Archway Internet building and Morgan held up the paper warrant. "FBI. We have a warrant to search these premises, stop what you're doing right now," Morgan ordered, "Can somebody tell me who owns this place?"

"Ahem," someone coughed, "That'd be me." The five agents turned to see a young male standing in a separate office.

"I want access to your chat room database," Katie demanded.

* * *

"This is so typical," the owner scoffed, "You feds just can't help yourselves. You gotta pollute the truest form of free expression ever invented."

"Are you younger than? You're younger than me, aren't you?" Emi questioned, rolling her eyes as she scrolled through the chat messages, "The younger kids are always so stuck up, thinking you're so cool and crazy. You wanna see something crazy?" Emi clicked open a random chat room and her fingers flew across the keyboard. As she did so, she changed her voice to do a valley girl accent. "Hey~ So, my name's Suzie, and I'm, like, totally 12."

"What are you doing?" The owner asked, thrown off by her sudden change in accent.

"Fishing," Katie answered.

"You know, I've got rights, and so do my clients," the owner argued.

"Oh, yeah? Watch this," Emi scoffed. Typing into the chat.

 _Hi everyone! My name's Suzie. I'm 12yo. would anyone like to talk w/ me ;p_

Not even a second after Emi sent the message did the computer start dinging with the many, many, many messages directed to "12-year-old Suzie."

"That's the sound of pedophiles looking to hook up with a 12-year-old girl named Suzie," Katie told the owner, "You let them run everything through SSL connections from proxy servers in offshore countries."

"So they can't be identified?" Morgan asked.

Katie shook her head grimly, "Not in 12 1/2 hours."

"Hey, I'm just a middleman here, okay?" the owner said defensively, "What can I do?"

"There's a little boy for sale on one of your sites," Gideon told him, "'What can I do' just isn't good enough."

"But for future references, keep track of everything that happens on your servers-that includes chats and websites. I mean seriously, look at all of these messages Suzie's getting," Emi said, her eyes quickly scanning over the messages as they popped up one after the other. One of the longer messages caught her eye, but after reading it, Emi turned her head away, her eyes wide. "Okay, I know I'm not actually Suzie, but I feel extremely violated, right now."

Morgan couldn't help but chuckle and give the girl a comforting pat on the head.

* * *

"FBI!"

After receiving a call from Garcia saying that there was another boy being held captive, the five agents rushed over to the house. There they found a teenage boy sitting shirtless in a chair with his wrists tied.

"What are you doing?!" the boy shouted.

"It's clear," Morgan told them after making a quick search of the room.

"It's okay. You're safe now," Emi reassured him, rushing over to untie him.

The boy, however, easily stood up, pulling his hands free. "Safe?"

Katie narrowed her eyes when she that Kevin was feeling at all distressed. "What's your name?" she questioned.

"Kevin."

"The man who did this to you. Is he still here?" Hotch asked.

"It's my house," Kevin said.

"Um, yeah, sorry to tell you kid, but...your still a kid," Emi said, realizing what the boy had been doing. "Which means you aren't old enough to own any property in your name. Graham Rose is the owner of this house, so we will ask again. Where is he?"

Kevin ignored her and knelt to the ground to type on his laptop.

"No, no! Don't touch that!" Katie shouted, stopping the boy before he could do anything.

"Back up," Morgan ordered.

"Where is he?" Katie asked again.

"He's gone," Kevin replied.

"What do you mean, gone?" Katie questioned.

"He's just gone, okay?"

"Graham Rose is your father?" Gideon guessed.

"Yeah, sure. You can call him that," Kevin said, getting back up, "I just call him a bastard."

* * *

"Father's been in jail for the last 8 months," Hotch told the team as they trudged down the stairs, peeling off their FBI vests.

"And so in that time, Kevin been selling his body to predators?" Emi scoffed.

"Yes."

"Just like a street hustler," Morgan compared.

"Only now the street is the internet," Katie pointed out.

"And his client base spans the globe," Gideon added.

"Well, this kid definitely uploaded Peter's video to the chat room, 'cause it's still on his computer," Morgan said.

"Yeah, but not the live feed," Hotch corrected.

"He say how he got hold of the video?" Gideon asked.

"He said it came from one of his clients, it was a shared file," Hotch told him, "They'd gone around these chat groups."

"It's possible," Katie confirmed, "Buyers and sellers routine. They trade files because the act in itself is an illegal act, which proves they're not the police."

"I'll see what else we can find out," Hotch said.

* * *

As Hotch and Emi searched through the computer for any other information, Morgan gave Kevin a lecture.

"Kid, the boy whose video you've been sending around to all the chat rooms, he's gonna be sold from one pedophile to another."

"Boo. Hoo," Kevin spat.

Emi inhaled sharply and got up from where she sat, letting Hotch continue the search. "Okay, you know what, kid? That's it. I've had it with you. Just because your father left you to live in this house alone while he's off in jail doesn't give you any excuse to act like a little-"

"Emi," Morgan quickly held the woman back, giving her a warning look, "Don't do or say something you might later regret."

Emi shot Kevin a withering look before letting out a sigh. "You're right," she agreed, "Thanks, Morgan."

The computer Katie was at let out a beeping noise and the woman there let out an irritated sigh. "These are dummy logs," she told them, "What's the password to get me into the real transcripts of your sessions?"

"You're the FBI. You figure it out," Kevin sassed.

"I know you don't think so, Kevin, but we _are_ trying to help you here," Hotch said.

"Help me?" Kevin repeated, "What I do is consensual."

"What you do is prostitution," Emi corrected.

"But I'm a minor," Kevin said, putting on an "innocent" voice, "I don't even really know what I'm doing. Plus I never this room, so no one, no one ever touches me."

"Anymore," Gideon added, making the boy turned to look at him in shock. "Your father's been beating you since you can remember. First it was when he was drunk on the weekend, then he was always drunk. You never knew why he was hurting you...why he was so angry. At night, you'd cry yourself to sleep, hoping someone would come and save you. No one ever came."

Emi sighed and knelt in front of now shook boy and gently took his hands in hers. "Kevin, listen," she said in a soft voice, "Right now, you have a chance to _be_ the one who saves someone. You could be the one who stops his pain."

"You can't get to your father, but you can get to the guy who's hurting this boy," Hotch added.

The agents watched in silence as Kevin thought about it. After a few seconds, Kevin looked up, determination in his eyes. "Move."

Complying, Katie got up from her seat to allow Kevin to sit there.

"This backs up all of my transcripts," he told them, typing in a password into the computer, "The screen name of the guy who sent me the file is Mehtevas."

"Is something wrong?" Gideon asked, noticing that Emi had a puzzled look on her face.

"There's something about his name..." she murmured, "I just can't place my finger on it..."

* * *

"How long has Mehtevas been a client of yours?" Katie asked Kevin.

"Like, 6 months."

"Where is he located?"

"He's a local," Kevin answered, "He's always asking to meet with me, but I don't do that."

Emi nodded in approval. "Good."

"Does he knew where you are?" Hotch asked.

"Just the city."

"How do you contact him?"

"He contacts me."

"Come on, Kevin," Morgan said, "You don't just sit around here waiting for these guys to look you up. That's no way to run a business."

"Right now, you're the only person who can help us find Peter," Katie said.

"What do you want me to do?" Kevin asked.

"Ask him for a face to face," was Katie's answer.

"No. No way. I don't do that. I've never been out of this room," Kevin rejected.

"It'll be fine," Emi reassured him, "He won't lay a finger on you. I promise. I'll be right there the entire time-we all will."

Kevin still seemed a little wary. "Won't he be suspicious if I suddenly want to meet with him?"

"He's a need driven offender, Kevin," Katie said.

"What does that mean?"

"If you offer to meet with him, he won't be able to resist," Gideon explained, "He can't help himself."

* * *

The five FBI agents watched as an older man approached Kevin. As they talked, Kevin frantically looked around, looking for one of the agents. As soon as he made eye contact with Emi, the woman nodded and Kevin quickly sprinted away from the man and towards Emi.

"Hugz?" the man called, "Kevin!"

Before the man could run after the boy, the agents and officers drove up to him. Morgan jumped out of the SUV and sprinted towards the man. "FBI! Turn around!" He pushed the man against the wall to put the handcuffs on him.

"Agent Morgan," Katie called in a warning tone.

"I didn't anything!" the man protested.

"Morgan, calm down," Emi said, walking over to them with Kevin by her side, "We need his cooperation."

"That's right," Katie agreed, "We just want to ask you a few questions."

"Here's a question. What's the principal of a school doing hooking up with a 14-year-old boy?" Hotch questioned, holding up the man's wallet to show his faculty id.

Emi made a noise of disgust. "Oh, you vile bastard!"

"Let's go," Gideon ordered, "Take him inside."

* * *

Emi and Kevin were casually standing by one of the police cars, talking about TV shows that they both watch.

"You know, I never would've thought that you were a Doctor Who kid," Emi mused.

"Back at you," Kevin said. "Who's your favorite doctor?

"I would have to say...Nine," Emi said.

Kevin raised his eyebrows, "Really? I would've thought you'd say Ten. A lot of girls in my class like him-but I think it's because they think he's 'hot.'"

The woman scoffed. "I honestly could care less about looks," Emi said, "Nine was much more entertaining, in my opinion. I'm so mad that he only got one season. He's very underappreciated. But what about you? Who's your favorite."

"Definitely Four."

Emi chuckled, "You and my husband would get along."

Kevin's eyes grew big. "You're married? But aren't you, like, 20?"

Emi couldn't help but laugh. "I'm actually 25, but thank you for that." She looked around, pretending that she was making sure Spencer wasn't around. "Don't tell him, but I ordered him Four's scarf for Christmas."

"Cool!"

"Emi," Hotch called, walking over to the two, "Social Services is picking up Kevin at the Alexandria Field Office. I'm going to go with him. I'll be as soon as I can." He opened the car door and waited for Kevin to get in, but then noticed the Emi's sad face. "You okay?"

"What's gonna happen to me?" Kevin asked.

Hotch hesitated and was about to answer when the sound of tires squealing caught their attention. They turned to see a car park right behind them on the curb. The car doors opened to reveal Elle and Spencer.

"Hotch. You already got him?" Elle asked as she and Spencer got out of the car.

"I told you to stay out of the field," Hotch said, walking over to them.

"Yeah, I know. But Reid said that you wanted us here," Elle lied.

"No, I didn't," Spencer protested.

"Yes, you did," Elle insisted.

"I'm sure you didn't, Reid," Hotch reassured the man.

"Thanks."

"The school district has given us permission to search Rawlings' office," Hotch told them.

"I'm on it," Elle said.

"Reid." Hotch looked behind him at Emi and Kevin, who were both watching him, then turned back to Spencer. "Help me separate Emi and Kevin. I need to get him to the Alexandria Field Office."

As Elle walked away, Spencer followed Hotch to his-Spencer's-wife and the kid with her.

"Hey, Spencer," Emi greeted, giving him a quick hug, "Did Elle drag you here to throw you under the bus?"

"Pretty much," Spencer confirmed. He turned to face the kid and gave him an awkward smile. "Hi, I'm Dr. Spencer Reid."

"He's my husband," Emi clarified.

Spencer turned to look at his wife in confusion, "You talked about me?"

"Good things, don't worry," Emi reassured him. She then turned her attention back to the kid. "Okay, time to get in the car."

"What's gonna happen to me?" Kevin asked again.

Emi let out a shuddery breath before looking at him sadly. "You'll most likely be put under the care of your closest relative, and if you don't have one, you'll be placed into foster care."

"I don't want to be put into foster care," Kevin protested. "Can't I stay with you?"

Emi shook her head sadly, "I'm sorry, Kevin. That's not possible?"

"Why not?"

"Because you need to be with a family who will give you love," Emi started.

"You can give me love!" Kevin insisted.

"Oh, Kevin." Emi bent down and cupped Kevin's face with her hands. "What you need is not something Spencer and I can give you," she said, tears starting to form in her eyes, "You need a family who can give you a lot of attention-the attention you need."

"I've been living without attention for a while now," Kevin tried.

"And look where that's gotten you," Emi pointed out.

Kevin looked down in defeat. "But what if my new family is mean to me."

Emi thought about it, then got an idea. "Here." She dug into her bag and pulled out her business card. "If you find that your family is abusing, or being mean to you, then contact me. Okay?"

The boy took the business card and reluctantly nodded. "Okay."

Seeing that Kevin was still crestfallen, Emi pulled him into a hug. "We didn't get off to a good start, but I'll miss you."

Kevin brought his hands up to return the hug. "Yeah, me too," he mumbled.

Emi pulled away and gave him a weak smile, "I gotta go. Be good to your new family, okay?"

After receiving a nod, Emi let Hotch lead Kevin into the car before she and Spencer turned and began to catch up to Elle, who had stayed behind to wait for them.

* * *

"Principal of a school," Elle said in disbelief as the three of them walked into the principal's office.

"As much access to children as possible," Spencer said.

"' _Growing Up Guide for Parents_ ,'" Elle said, reading the title of a book.

"He's got a library of child psychology," Emi told them, standing in front of a bookshelf.

Spencer pulled open one of the drawers at the desk. "He's got a doctorate in it."

"Well prepared pedophile," Elle muttered.

"More like obsessed," Emi corrected.

"You notice anything missing?" Spencer asked as he looked around the room.

"Computer," Elle answered just as she opened a drawer. She scoffed and pulled out a framed picture. "Family man."

"So, if he does have Peter, he's not keeping him at home," Emi concluded.

Meanwhile, Spencer was opening random drawers. "Hey, guys, this one's locked," he told them, pulling on the said drawer again just to make sure.

"Hey, move," Elle requested, taking out a pocket knife. She placed it in the keyhole and wiggled it around.

"Did they teach you that in FBI school?" Spencer asked.

Elle pulled the drawer open and smirked at the boy genius. "No, they taught me that in Brooklyn."

Emi giggled and pulled out a laptop case. "Let's see what this creep's got in his laptop, shall we?"

* * *

"Tell me we got something we can nail the son of a bitch on," Morgan said, storming into the office.

"Not unless we can break the password on this computer," Spencer told him.

"Call Garcia."

"Take too long," Elle said.

"Come on, genius. Do something..." Morgan waved his fingers and hands around his head, "Genius-like."

"If this guy does have child pornography on his computer and we type in the wrong password, it could trigger a virus that wipes the entire hard drive," Spencer explained.

Emi sniffled and buried her face in her hands. "Goddamit!"

Morgan did a double take, "Hold on, are you crying?"

Emi lifted her head to glare at the man. "No, I'm not. I'm just tired," she snapped, causing the man to raise his hands in surrender.

"What's he saying out there?" Elle randomly asked. She was looking out of the window, staring at the arrested principal.

"He's a preferential pedophile who claims he's trying to save them," Morgan spat.

Emi abruptly got out of her chair. "Save them..." she muttered, "Save them...Mehtevas...Holy shit." she held her hand towards the three agents in the room with her. "I need paper and a writing utensil."

Spencer quickly got up from where he and handed her a piece of paper and his marker. Emi gave him a quick smile of thanks before placing the paper against the window. Carefully, to make sure she wouldn't make any mistakes, Emi wrote the words "save them" backward. Once she was done, she flipped the paper over for her fellow three agents to see.

"Mehtevas," Spencer read, his eyes widening in realization.

* * *

Spencer and Emi were now sitting on top of the principal's desk. Exhausted, Emi was resting her head on Spencer's shoulder with her eyes closed shut. The sound of the door opening made Emi open her eyes. Gideon walked in with Katie leading Mr. Rawlings in after. As soon as she saw the principal, Emi glared at him.

"Mr. Rawlings, have a seat," Morgan said, slamming a chair down in front of the table.

Elle slid the laptop so it's in front of the chair. "Your laptop," she said, putting a mocking smile.

"It's, uh, research. I'm writing a book," Mr. Rawlings tried to tell them.

"Have. A. Seat. Mr. Rawling," Emi said slowly causing the man to reluctantly sit down.

"I swear to you this is all just research-"

"It's not research. It's 100 years in a federal penitentiary," Katie said.

Mr. Rawlings looked around at the agents before settling his gaze on Gideon. "I'd like to make a deal."

Gideon shook his head, "No deals. All you have is a very, very small amount of goodwill."

"Tell me about Peter," Katie ordered.

"I was contacted by the man who was holding him," Rawlings explained, "I didn't search out this boy. I-I didn't go looking for this."

"Give me a name."

"Well, I only know the screen name," he told her, "It's ' _Manchild._ '"

Gideon shook his head in disbelief again. "Did you bid on Peter?"

Mr. Rawlings didn't say anything so they could only assume that he did.

"How much?"

The man took a deep breath. "$8,000. But it was only in order to save him."

"You the high bidder?"

"I-I think so, yes. I was, anyway," he corrected himself, "I was supposed to go back online and contact him on his website and get the address."

"So you can inspect the merchandise?" Elle spat.

"Look, this child is being auctioned off, and I am trying to-"

"Trying to save him," Katie finished with him. "He'd have given you a code. What is it?"

"Come on. I have a family," Mr. Rawlings told them, "I have children of my own. I love children. I would never harm them."

"In your pursuit to save them, you think you could have avoided having sex with them?" Katie bit out.

"Mr. Rawlings, if you really wanted to save Peter, then you would've given us the code by now instead of trying to-and very badly, I have to add-distract us from saving Peter," Emi said before lowering her voice, "So, please. The code."

Mr. Rawlings whipped his glasses off his face to rub his eyes. After a few seconds of silence, he grudgingly answered. "Butterfly."

Katie marched over to the laptop and typed in the code. The dinging from the laptop signaled that the code was accepted and the surveillance video of the boy appeared along with a chat window.

Everyone in the room watched as Katie sent a message to the chat.

 _No one is going to outbid me. I'd like to see my friend now._

 _Where can I meet him?_

However, after she sent that last message, the website shut down.

"What happened?" Gideon asked.

"I don't know. He broke contact," Katie said.

"We got reporters outside of the school, this thing is all over the news," Morgan told them, walking into the office.

"My God, that's why the site went down. He knows," Katie groaned.

* * *

"She's sure about this, right?" Elle, Morgan, Spencer, and Emi were currently on their way to Mount Pleasant, a place that Garcia told them to go to.

"If Garcia says that Tadpoles shirt came from a unit in Mount Pleasant, then I gotta believe her," Morgan told Elle.

"She better be. Mount Pleasant is 60 miles away, and there's only two hours left on the auction clock," Spencer informed them.

"Maybe," Elle inputted, "If the unsub knows we're on to him, he may move that clock up."

Morgan looked behind him at the backseat where Spencer and Emi sat, Emi sleeping on Spencer's shoulder. "Hey, Reid. Is Emi okay?"

Spencer looked down at his sleeping wife then looked back up at Morgan, shrugging his free shoulder. "I don't know. She's been getting tired a lot more often."

"And she's moodier," Morgan added, "Like one moment, she's snapping at that Kevin kid, and then the next you know, she's getting along great."

"Has it ever occurred to you that she could be on her period?" Elle questioned. rolling her eyes.

"Well, yes," Spencer confirmed, "But this is different. Her period usually lasts about 7-8 days-"

"Oh, that poor soul," Elle muttered, the same time Morgan groaned, "Did not need to know that, kid."

"-but she's been acting like this for 2 weeks," Spencer finished. He looked down and subconsciously tucked a loose strand of hair behind Emi's ear.

Morgan snorted. "Maybe she's pregnant," Morgan joked.

The car fell silent as Spencer tried to calculate the possibility of that.

"I was kidding, Reid," Morgan told the man, "I mean, you use protection, right?"

"W-What? Y-Yeah, of course," Spencer stuttered, blushing profoundly at the subject.

"Then she's probably fine," Elle reassured him, "You two are overthinking this. She's probably just a little sick, that's all."

"Yeah..." Spencer agreed in an unconvincing tone.

* * *

After JJ fed the news media a lie to calm the unsub, the website came back on. However, instead of two hours left, there was only one. With that time in mind, the Morgan, Elle, Spencer, and a now-awaken Emi were now inside of the church of Mount Pleasant-because Tadpoles were usually affiliated with a church.

"Recognize him?" Morgan asked the reverend, showing him a picture of Peter.

"I can't say that I do," Reverend Harris said.

"But you're certain that the shirt came from this unit of the Tadpoles, right?" Elle pushed.

"It disbanded 6 months ago," the reverend informed them, "Before I took over the congregation."

"Why?"

"I was told there wasn't enough interest, only a few boys participated," the reverend explained.

"Do you have the records of those who did participate?" Spencer asked.

Distracted by the photo of Peter in his hand, Reverend Harris shook his head. "How could anyone do this to a child?"

"Reverend Harris," Emi said, kneeling on the ground in front of the man, "We need to find this boy. Are there any records?"

"I'm sorry. I don't think so," Reverend Harris sighed, but then he paused. "Wait. There may be a photo of the Tadpoles."

* * *

"This may be what you're looking for," the reverend said, walking back to the four agents with a photograph in his hand.

Emi took the photograph and nodded. "Yep. That's him right there."

"Is there a name, address, anything?" Morgan asked.

"As I said, there are no records left," Reverend Harris said solemnly, "The church was run pretty sloppily until I took over."

"Let me see that," Elle requested, taking the photograph from Spencer. She took the picture out of the frame and on the back, were the names of the boys. "His name's Charlie."

* * *

"53 seconds left," Emi said, as all 8 agents got out of their cars.

"The name the school has is Charlie Sparks," Hotch told Emi, Elle, Spencer, and Morgan.

"No Sparks in any of the phone directories," Gideon said.

"Garcia can't even find a Sparks within 100 miles for the last 10 years," Morgan added.

"Probably not his real name anyway," Katie said.

"The school said he may have moved away," Hotch informed them.

"Then we start over again."

"We're running out of time," Emi breathed.

"Guys, maybe we're looking at this the wrong way," Spencer said.

"What do you mean?"

"The behavior, it's odd, right? The unsub apparently listed this kid in school and the Tadpoles until about a year ago. At that point, he had pictures of him online in a regular looking room," Spencer pointed out," But now he's in a prison-like room with no windows, no doors, completely hidden."

"Preferential pedophiles don't change overnight," Katie stated.

"Something happened that made him do a 180 on his behavior," Emi realized.

"But what is it?" Hotch questioned.

"Fear," Gideon said, gaining the attention from the rest of the agents. "Katie almost caught him. You probably talked to him. The unsub's in your records." At those words, Katie rushed to get out her phone.

Meanwhile, Emi was glancing down at Spencer's watch.

"5..." she said, counting down the seconds left, "4...3...2...1..." A second after she said '1,' Morgan's watch beeped.

"Guys, we just ran out of time," Morgan said.

Emi shook her head and hid her face in Spencer's sweater. "Oh, Peter."

* * *

"I never really had a good suspect, I only did some general interviews with child offenders on the East Coast," Katie stated.

"One of them was the right guy," Hotch said.

"Amanda, hey," Katie said as soon as her co-worker picked up the phone, "Uh, I need you to pull all of the original files on Peter's case. Uh, somewhere in my office. Try my desk. I need the names of everyone I interviewed."

"Have her call Penelope Garcia at the BAU," Morgan requested, "She'll be able to tell us if we can cross any off."

"You got it? Thanks."

* * *

"All right, guys. Listen up. We might have something," Morgan said after he got off the phone with Garcia, "12 men were interviewed. 8 are back in prison, one is dead. One lives in California, and two have last known addresses within 10 minutes of us-a Patrick Forest and a Michael Earlson."

"Patrick Forest isn't smart enough to put this all together," Katie said.

"What about Michael Earlson?"

Katie nodded, "Definitely."

Emi grinned. "Then let's go catch this son of a bitch."

* * *

They had managed to catch him right after he drove out of his driveway. Earlson tried to make a run for it, but Morgan and Elle caught him before he got far. Meanwhile, Katie and Emi ran to his car and opened the trunk. Inside, was a big tub-big enough to fit a small kid.

"Oh, God," Katie mumbled. With shaky hands, she opened the lid, revealing Peter.

Peter looked around, wildly. "Daddy!" he screamed.

"It's okay. It's okay," Katie tried to tell the boy.

"Daddy!"

"It's okay. You're safe, now. I've got you," Katie told him.

"Where's Daddy?"

Emi sighed and lifted the boy out of the tub, bringing him into a comforting hug. "Oh, honey. I know. I know."

* * *

"Oh, what a touching scene," Emi sniffled as she watched the scene in front of her. Peter's real name was Dustin Powers, and he had been abducted when he was only one. JJ had managed to trace his mother, and they were finally reunited.

"You know, you're a lot more emotional than usual," Spencer commented, handing the Asian a tissue.

"Oh, shut it, you," Emi grumbled, lightly hitting Spencer, "So what if I'm being more emotional than usual for no apparent reason. Just let me do it in peace."

"Yeah, um, about that..." Spencer took out a small plastic bag from his own bag and handed it to Emi. "Here."

Confused, Emi looked into the plastic bag before looking back at her husband with wide eyes. "Spencer-"

"Please," Spencer begged, "I just want to make sure."

* * *

When Emi came back, her face was a bit paler than usual.

JJ looked her friend with concern, "Emi are you okay?" She didn't get a reply. All Emi did was stare directly at Spencer.

Spencer bit his lip. "So...?" When Emi nodded, Spencer broke into a grin and ran over to his wife, bringing her into a hug. The other agents could only watch in confusion. "That's amazing!"

"You're not mad?" Emi asked, relief shown on her face.

"Why would I be mad?"

"Um, what's amazing?" Elle asked.

"I'd like to know that, too," Garcia said, raising her hand.

Emi and Spencer exchanged excited glances before facing their friends.

"Well, the test isn't entirely accurate."

"We'd have to go see a doctor before we can confirm it..."

"Just spit it out already, you two," Morgan chuckled.

Emi took in a deep breath. "I think I'm pregnant," she revealed.

Morgan's, JJ's, and Elle's mouths opened wide in amazement whereas Garcia squealed.

"OMG! I'm so happy for you two!" Garcia squealed, hugging the expecting couple.

"I thought you said you were waiting for a more stablized time," JJ remembered.

Morgan waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Were you lying to me when you said you used protection, pretty boy?"

Spencer flushed a bright red. "Morgan!"

Emi couldn't help but laugh at the two males' interaction. "Well, only abstinence is 100%, but..."

Gideon chuckled. "Congratulations," he told her.

"I'm sure you and Spencer will make wonderful parents," Hotch said, giving Emi a pat on the back.

Emi beamed. "Thanks."

* * *

 **A/N** : **Yay! A Baby Genius is on the way. Oh, God, I hope I'm not moving too fast...The baby thing was kind of a spontaneous thing. Like halfway through I randomly wondered how Emi and Spencer would raise a child and then as I read back my work, I realized I already had some signs of pregnancy already. So then, I decided to go back and add a bit more details to make it a bit more obvious-but hopefully not _too_ obvious. Ya know, until Elle's guess. Anyway, now I need to know what to name the baby. I don't know whether I want them to be a boy or girl, so if you have any names, suggest away. I'm thinking either English names or names with a Japanese or Vietnamese origin. Thank you! Next up is...Aftermath!**


	14. 2-05 - Aftermath

**A/N: Just so you guys know, Emi was 6 weeks pregnant last chapter. 9 weeks have passed.**

* * *

 **Review Responses:**

 **Silentmayhem and SakuraRoca: Thank you for the name suggestions, I'll keep them in mind. BTW, the names mentioned here aren't set in stone. They're just some names that I thought seemed nice.**

 **Ahowell1993: Happy belated birthday! And thanks for the advice, I'll keep it in mind. The baby/babies won't come till a few more chapters, so I'm gonna think really hard about that.**

 **Guest 1: Yeah, I kinda figured that a baby was rushing it, but I think I started adding that in late at night, so when I continued to write it, I decided to go with the flow. Hopefully, a baby won't ruin this story.**

 **Guest 2: Yay! A Baby Spence is coming!**

* * *

Doesn't anybody ever go home?" Gideon wondered as he walked into the break room where Emi, Spencer, and Elle sat.

"You're here," Elle pointed out.

"Exactly. Trust me, you don't want to model your social life around mine," Gideon said.

JJ smirked at what she heard when she entered the break room. "If it makes you feel any better, Hotch and Morgan took off," she said.

"Hotch is married, and Morgan's-you know-Morgan," Spencer said while eating his food.

"Uh, If I remember correctly, so are you, and I'm also pregnant," Emi retorted, stealing some of Spencer's food. She happily placed her hand on her noticeable baby bump. "15 weeks to be exact."

Gideon smiled at Emi's action then looked at the file that JJ had handed him. "What's this?"

"Police in Dayton, Ohio need our help with a serial rapist," JJ told them.

"What's the story?" Elle asked.

"3 months ago, he raped 5 students at a small bible college," JJ explained as Gideon placed a picture of each of the 5 students onto the table. "Roughly, an attack a week, then suddenly nothing, until 9 days ago when he suddenly reappeared with a whole new victim pattern." She handed Gideon another set of pictures. "Both those women are in their 30s. They were raped about 5 days apart."

"Where have the new attacks taken place?" Gideon questioned.

"Opposite ends of the city," JJ answered before going in depth, "He was waiting for them when they got home." At those words, everyone turned to look at Elle. About 6 months ago, the Fisher King had managed to get into Elle's house and shot her when she got home, as well as kidnap Emi.

"How do we know it's the same guy?" Elle asked, looking down at her mug of coffee.

"He leaves voicemails for them," JJ told her.

"Freezing them with fear before they even see him," Spencer mused.

"They don't recognize the voice?" Gideon asked JJ.

"No." JJ shrugged. "Cops even have DNA, but it's just not in the system."

"Why would someone attacking college students suddenly widen his net?" Gideon wondered.

"Serial rapists hardly ever change victimology once it's established. It's based on a fantasy that's very specific," Spencer stated.

"Maybe he's telling these women that no one's safe," Elle suggested.

"Call Hotch and Morgan," Gideon ordered, "Tell them we're up as soon as we're cleared for takeoff."

"You call Hotch and I'll call Morgan," Emi said to JJ.

JJ gave the Asian a smile, "Thanks, Em."

* * *

"Okay, okay, but listen to this. Derek Morgan Reid." Morgan sat back in his seat on the plane with a smug look on his face, "Has a nice ring to it-especially the first two names."

Emi and Spencer looked at each other and rolled their eyes. "That just sounds like you're married to Spencer," Emi pointed, "Which, by the way, you aren't. Besides, what if I have a girl?"

"Then name it Morgan," Morgan said with a shrug, "It's a first name _and_ it works for both guys and girls."

Emi scoffed. "I'll keep it in mind. But Spencer and I have agreed that we want him or her to have a Japanese and English first and middle names. Not sure which one will be which, yet."

"Do you have any ideas for the names, yet?" Elle asked.

"Well, for Japanese girl names, I was thinking maybe Sachi, which means 'child of joy', or Kazue for a boy, meaning 'single blessing'," Emi said thoughtfully, "Or maybe I'll just go with Akira which is a unisex name and means clear and intelligent. But who knows, there's still a whole bunch of other names."

"I was thinking we could use Hope for the English girl name," Spencer told her, "And Michael for a boy."

"I still think you should name the kid, Morgan," Morgan joked.

"Okay, we got new information on last night's victim," JJ said walking into the main lodge of the plane, "Alicia Jordan, 38. MO is the same. He was waiting for her to get home, he broke in through the back, subdued her with a gun."

"Answering machine?" Hotch asked.

"Uh, left a message about an hour or so before," JJ told him, "I can't imagine being taunted like that in my own house, you know?"

"Well, the messages aren't taunts...they're overtures," Gideon corrected. "I think we're ready, trust me. He's being sincere."

"Sounds like we're dealing with a power reassurance rapist," Morgan said.

"To him the messages are courtships," Spencer explained, "He's introducing himself to the victims."

"If that's the case, he must've stalked them to know so much about their lives," Hotch assumed.

"First victims were all college students, all religious," Gideon pointed out, "Why change?"

"Have the police found any connection between the latest victims?" Morgan questioned.

JJ shook her head. "No, nothing yet."

"We have to figure out what made him go off script," Gideon muttered.

* * *

"Hi, Alicia," Emi greeted as she, Spencer, and Elle walked into the hospital room. She showed the woman her badge, "We're from the FBI. I know you've already spoken to the police, but, uh, we were hoping you could answer a few questions for us?"

"Yeah," the woman agreed, "Every time I think it's over someone else wants to photograph me or touch me or ask me to relive it."

"I understand," Emi said, thinking back to when that happened to her, "We'll keep this short. I promise."

* * *

"You said that your attacker knew the things that you thought," Emi recalled, "Could you explain what you meant by that?"

"He said that we weren't the type of people to just stay inside and read books," Alicia told her, "and he talked about taking me away to Positano, Italy, and drinking and listening to Al Green."

"Is there any significance to that?" Spencer asked.

"My favorite place in the world, the only alcohol I drink, and my favorite singer," Alicia sniffled, "I don't understand how he can know any of it."

Emi stared at her cell phone in her hand and bit her lip. "I'm really sorry to do this to you, Alicia, but I need you to listen to this recording and tell us if the man's attitude sounds the same as when he was in your house." After receiving a nod from the woman, Emi played the voicemail.

" _I think we're ready to meet. Trust me. I know what you want._ "

Listening, Alicia shook her head. "He sounded different."

"How so?" Elle asked.

"More nervous...even though he had a gun. It was like he was afraid to talk."

"Thank you," Emi said, putting her phone away.

"What difference does it matter how he sounded?" Alicia questioned.

"On the phone, he can rehearse, and in the flesh, he can't hide his true self," Spencer explained.

Alicia sobbed. "I don't understand."

"In his delusion, the man thinks of these attacks as dates," Spencer tried.

Alicia shook her head again. "I didn't do anything to make him think that," she denied.

"We know you didn't," Emi reassured her.

Elle sighed, "This is enough."

"Thank you very much," Emi said. She placed a hand on top of the woman's and gave them a squeeze. "I know you may not believe it right now, but you will feel better one day," Emi told her, "It will feel like forever, and there will be days where you just feel so disgusted and vulnerable that you just...you feel like you can't take it anymore...but you will. You will get through this because you are strong. You will find someone who will love you and help you go through this."

"How do you know?" Alicia whispered, her lip quivering.

Emi glanced at Spencer, who gave her a supportive smile, and turned back to Alicia to give her a gentle smile. "Trust me," she said, "I know."

* * *

The 2 FBI SUVs parked in the hotel parking lot and everyone got out.

"Everybody get some sleep," Hotch ordered, "We've got a big day tomorrow."

"You hear that, Reid and Emi? That means no funny business. None of us need to be kept awake because of you two," Morgan joked.

"Oh, shut it, Morgan, I'm pregnant," Emi grumbled.

"Actually, most doctors have found that sperm give the baby protein that helps make the baby healthier," Spencer stated, "Also, because your body's sensitive, you'll have better or-"

"We're not doing it in a hotel room, Spencer," Emi cut him off.

Spencer's eyes widened and he turned away, blushing madly. "I-I never said that we should."

Emi only heard Morgan and JJ laugh which was strange because Elle would usually at least chuckle. She looked behind her to see that Elle wasn't even behind them. Pulling Spencer to a stop, Emi looked around the corner to see Elle digging in her bag.

"What's up?" Spencer asked.

"I think I left my glasses in the car," Elle told them.

"We'll keep you company," Emi offered.

Elle shook her head and walked towards the couple. "No, it's all right. We got to get to sleep."

* * *

"Something's off with Elle," Emi said to Spencer as she stared at her belly, rubbing it.

"Do you want to go talk to her about it?" Spencer asked.

Emi stopped her rubbing to think. "You know what? Yeah, I do." Emi said. She turned to face her husband only to find him already holding the door open for her. Emi beamed and walked out, Spencer following closely behind. They walked over to the next room door and Emi knocked.

"Hey," Spencer greeted when Elle opened the door.

"Hi."

"Are you okay?" Elle asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

Spencer didn't say anything but instead, walked into her room.

"No, really, come right in," Elle muttered sarcastically.

Emi gave her friend an apologetic look. "Sorry about him. May I?"

Elle nodded and stepped aside for Emi to enter. After Emi entered, Elle walked over to the mini fridge and took out a couple of tiny bottles of weak alcohol.

"We thought you...uh, you might want to talk," Spencer said, leaning against the dresser.

Elle scoffed and sat down in a chair. "Don't go all profiler on me," she snapped, pouring the alcohol into a glass.

Emi sighed sat down in the chair next to her. "Elle, you got shot in your own home. 4 months later, you come back and you just...act like nothing even happened. Us thinking that you might want to talk isn't profiling. It's us being your friend."

"Yeah? Well, _you_ got kidnapped in my own home, but you only got a month off," Elle retorted.

"Because I opened up and talked to people, you didn't. We let you act like nothing happened at first 'cause maybe you needed time to open up again, but it's been 6 weeks, Elle. You need to talk to someone." When Emi only received a blank stare from the brunette, Emi gave her her best puppy-dog look. "Please?"

Elle sighed and complied. "After he shot me. He reached into my wound so he could write on the wall in my blood," she told them, "I was barely conscious-and Emi wasn't conscious at all-but I could feel his hand in there...and sometimes it's like I can still feel it."

Spencer shook his head, unsure what to say. "Elle..." he finally said, "He's dead."

"And you're right here," Emi added, taking Elle's hands into her own, "You won."

Elle gave them a smile-a genuine smile-and lifted her glass. "Then here's to winning."

* * *

"Good morning. Thanks for coming in a little early," An officered greeted as Hotch passed files out to the officers in the station.

"Good morning," Hotch replied.

"Lousy coffee's up," Morgan announced.

"We just want you to hear what the FBI has gathered and get you on the streets," Detective Maggie Callahan said.

"So the guy we're looking for is a classic power reassurance rapist," Hotch stated.

"This differs from a power assertive rapist who attempts to humiliate and traumatize his victims, as well as the anger-retaliatory rapist and a sexual sadist, whose attacks are also random and excessively brutal," Spencer continued.

"The reason why we're telling you this is because this is the only kind of rapist who targets a specific victim," Emi told the officers.

"He fantasizes that he's in a relationship with these women," Morgan said, "Now, he doesn't come across by accident. This is someone with access. He's the cable guy, or the locksmith...he's the guy who reads the gas meter. He can describe exactly what these women wear and how they smell. These details are what feeds his fantasy. Now, we need you to look for the overlap between the sets of victims. Delivery men, lawn crew, handymen-did the school share workers with any of the recent victims?"

"Because he sees these as relationships, he most likely lives alone," Spencer said.

"And living alone allows him to indulge his delusion that he's in a relationship with these women," Hotch added.

"Because of the discrepancy in the victims' ages, we can only pinpoint his age somewhere between 20 and 40 years old," Spencer continued.

"It's possible that he has a profession that he finds emasculating, so look for someone in their lives with a job that deviates from normal gender roles," Morgan advised, "Something like a secretary."

"We're sure that there is some overlap," Hotch stated, "This guy is a shadow at the edges of each of these women's lives."

"All right, that's square one," Callahan concludes, "Recanvas and be sure to relay information on shift change."

"Thanks very much," Hotch said.

As soon as the officers dispersed, JJ and Emi approached Hotch. "I looked into the idea of rapes that went unreported like you asked," JJ said.

"And?"

"2 months ago, a female student at Holy Trinity committed suicide," JJ told him, "She wasn't one of the reported victims, but her suicide report corresponds almost exactly to when the campus attacks stopped."

"There may be more victims out there," Emi realized.

* * *

Emi, Hotch, and Detective Callahan were now at the home of Shelly Norvell talking to her parents.

"I don't understand how my daughter's death is FBI business," Shelly's father said.

"We're investigating a series of sexual assaults that took place on Shelly's campus," Hotch explained.

"Were you aware of the attacks?" Callahan asked.

"Of course. It was horrible," Mrs. Norvell said.

Emi let out a shaky breath. "There's no kind way in wording this, so I'm just going to ask," Emi said, "Is there, um, any possibility that Shelly was-er, raped and it led to her suicide?"

"No, it's not," Mrs. Norvell said sharply.

"Did Shelly have any history of depression?" Callahan tried.

"She put a lot of pressure on herself," Mr. Norvell said, "She got A's, volunteered with the youth group, played varsity volleyball in high school, but she always handled it with grace."

"Did she leave a note?" Hotch asked, "And if so, would it be possible for us to take it and analyze it?"

"There wasn't a note," Mrs. Norvell said bluntly causing Callahan and Emi shared a look that expressed their awkwardness in the uncomfortable situation.

"We will return it and with all due respect, this isn't something that I'm asking lightly," Hotch said.

"With all due respect to you, you walk into my home, you ask if my daughter, who we buried 2 months ago, was also sexually violated," the mother snapped.

"I'm sorry."

"You're about to be a mother, right?" Mrs. Norvell said, turning her attention to Emi and her pregnant stomach.

Self-consciously, Emi placed a hand on her stomach and nodded. "Yes."

"How would you react if someone comes into your home and claimed that not only did your daughter commit suicide, but she had also been sexually assaulted?"

Uncomfortable with the question, Emi subconsciously started to rub her stomach and glanced desperately at Callahan. Understanding her message, Callahan quickly jumped in with her own reply. "I have a little girl and I can't say how I'd react if something happened to them, but I would like to believe that I would do whatever was necessary to make sure that no other family went through that same pain."

"I'd like to go lie down," Mrs. Norvell said stiffly.

"Thank you for your time," Hotch said.

When his wife walked up the stairs, Mr. Norvell stood up. "I'll see you out." However, he walked over to a drawer and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "I love my wife," he said.

"I'm sure you do," Callahan reassured him before taking the letter.

* * *

"She was raped," Hotch said. The three of them were currently walking back to the car as they read Shelly's letter.

"The unsub got her pregnant," Callahan said.

" _I'm choosing the sin of suicide over the sin of abortion because I can't bring his baby into the world_ ," Emi read aloud for Hotch to hear, " _Please don't hate me, Shelly._ "

"The attacks at the college stopped two months ago, right after Shelly's suicide," Hotch realized, "That had been the stressor."

"He thinks of these as relationships. In his mind, Shelly killed their baby," Callahan stated.

Nodding, Hotch pulled out his phone to call Gideon. "Jason, Hotch. We need to go back to the last victim and ask one more question."

* * *

"You really think this rapist is one of my guys?"

After going to a small fertility clinic that helped women get pregnant, Hotch, Morgan, and Callahan learned that the unsub had got his information of his victims from a questionnaire by First Hand Media. Currently, Gideon, Emi, Spencer, and Elle were in the office of First Hand Media, talking to the boss.

"Well, he's used to being in strangers' homes, always on the phone, that's how he's confident," Gideon told the boss, "Thanks to your research, he feels like he knows these women."

"Create a list of any employees you have that worked in a fertility clinic and university questionnaires," Spencer requested.

"I give every employee complete access to all of our materials," the boss said, "It helps keep them fresh if they can alternate between types of calls."

"So I fill out my intimate personal information and then you just share it with everyone you have working here for minimum wage?" Gideon questioned in disbelief.

"I sense an attitude," the boss said, crossing his arms.

"Oh, you want attitude? I am 5'3 and pregnant. I have a whole bunch of attitude bubbling up inside me right now that I can show you," Emi snapped, causing the man to falter.

"We need copies of every single questionnaire that you got from the clinic," Elle said in a demanding voice, "We can get a warrant here in about an hour if you prefer."

"Look, if you think about it, all I'm doing is profiling, just like you guys," the man said, plastering on a fake smile.

"Let's not think about it," Gideon said with a unamused look.

Reluctantly, the boss took out a box of files, took some out, then gave the box to Spencer.

"All these?" Spencer asked in surprise.

"We cover the entire Great Lakes region."

"Let's narrow it down," Spencer said, placing the box down onto the table. "The guy we're looking for a male, white, between the ages of 20 and 40, socially awkward, unable to make connections easily."

"I have 250 employees," the boss said, turning to look out of the window at all of the workers in the bullpen below. "Most of those are men and every single one of them match the description you just gave me."

* * *

"Wow. I heard you ran into a wall of paper," Morgan said as he walked into the BAU's makeshift office. Inside, Spencer, Emi, JJ, Elle, and Hotch were reading through the files from First Hand Media.

"You can lock your doors, but these people still find a way into your home," Hotch said. "Elle, it might be worth going back to the victims. It's a long shot, but maybe somebody remembers a first name from a telemarketing call."

"Yeah, the unsub feels a connection with them so he wouldn't lie or use an alias," Elle agreed, getting up to make a few calls.

"We know this guy's DNA is not in the system," Morgan informed them, "But I'll cross-check employment records against sexual misdemeanors: peeping, exposure."

"Good."

"Separate Dayton forms from the rest of the region," Spencer told the remaining 3 people. He handed each of them some forms.

"So, what do we know from the latest set of victims?" Hotch asked.

"They're all single and over 35," Emi told him, her eyes scanning the papers.

"Each of them also indicated recently buying books on babies and child-rearing," Spencer added.

"Oh, that reminds me, I need to do that," Emi muttered.

"So he knows they're committed to having children, which means they're much less likely to abort even in the case of rape," Hotch said, ignoring Emi's note to herself.

"Get this, each of the victims also checked the yes box when asked if it would be okay to contact them on special deals on pediatric items," JJ told them.

"In the unsub's mind they've consented," Spencer realized, "He thinks he's doing them a service."

"Check those forms for each of those elements," Hotch ordered, getting up from his seat to look through some other forms, "If we can narrow it down to a potential list of victims, we can be waiting for him."

Emi, Spencer, and JJ complied and quickly looked through the forms.

"Any hits?"

"Got one," JJ said.

"Reid? Emi?"

"Nothing."

"Nada."

"It's the only one?" JJ said in disbelief.

"It's a small city. There can't be very many single women in their late 30s going to the exact same fertility clinic," Spencer said.

"So, we know who he's going after next," Hotch said, reading the form.

* * *

Unfortunately, they were too late. When the police stopped by the victim's house, they didn't any response and left, assuming that no one was home. Unbeknownst to them, the unsub had been in the house with his target. With no more targets left, Hotch and Gideon decided to make their own target, to which Elle was the only one that fit the criteria. She was to be the decoy. She catches the unsub's attention, then leaves her house in the afternoon, giving the unsub the opportunity to sneak into "her" house.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned.

"My God, Elle, what were you thinking?" Emi muttered.

Instead of leaving, Elle stayed in the house until late night. And when she finally did leave the house, she confronts the supposed unsub, William Lee, with a gun and arrests him.

"He's the unsub," was all Elle said before leaving the room.

"He's 28 years old," Spencer informed Emi and Morgan, But he's had 12 jobs in the past 10 years."

"Home life?"

"He lived with his mother until she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 6 months ago."

"One last chance to make Mama proud, by starting a family," Morgan realized.

"How're they playing it?" Spencer asked, referring to Hotch and Gideon, who were talking to the arrested man in the interrogation room.

"Deep empathy," Emi answered.

"Smart."

"Yeah. Well, it better work," Morgan said, "If they don't get him to confess, then there's no real reason to hold him."

Emi shook her head, sadly. "I don't think it will..."

* * *

Emi was right to say that it didn't work. Not even a few minutes later, Lee's lawyer arrived, leaving them no choice but to let him go.

"You're letting him walk?!" Elle shouted.

"Back off, Elle," Morgan warned.

"You don't know what's he's done," Elle protested.

"The only reason he's walking is because you panicked," Hotch told her.

"I'm supposed to believe that you've got my back?" Elle said with a laugh.

"What are you saying to me?" Hotch asked, narrowing his eyes.

"The last time you sent me home, Hotch, it got me shot," Elle snapped.

"Walk with me, right now," Gideon ordered, leading Elle away.

Emi couldn't do anything but watch her friend's retreating back. "Oh, Elle..."

* * *

As soon as the SUV parked in the parking lot of Lee's home, Emi climbed out of the car, with Gideon and Hotch quickly behind her. "Elle! What happened?!" Emi tried to run over to her friend, but Callahan stopped her.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you speak to her until she's been processed," Callahan apologized, "Procedure."

"What happened?" Hotch asked.

"She came to stake his place out, he saw her, he had a gun," the detective told them, "Don't worry, it's cut and dry. Self-defense. She'll have her badge back by tomorrow."

"Thank you."

Emi nodded along with the story, but as soon as she made eye contact with Elle, Emi knew. It wasn't self-defense at all.


	15. 2-06 - The Boogeyman

**Review Responses:**

 **Ahowell1993 and SakuraRcoa: Thank you and I hope you like this chapter!**

 **Juniper81182: Thank you for all of that information. If I ever find myself writing an episode where they go back to Dayton, I'll be sure to use that information.**

* * *

"When I asked for a visit in the next month, I actually _meant_ I wanted you to visit in the next month, _not_ half a year later."

Emi scowled at the man sitting on the other side of the glass, "You should be glad that I even visited at all."

Evan Lawrence, Emi's old step-father, smirked at Spencer, who was also glaring at him. "Oh, believe me. I am extremely honored," he nodded towards Emi's pregnant stomach, "Will you ever bring the kid over to visit his grandfather?"

Emi gritted her teeth. "You are _not_ the grandfather," she growled, "You lost the right to that title the moment you raped me."

"Oh, please," Lawrence scoffed, "You liked it. You're just a slut and that baby proves it." He turned his attention back to Spencer and smirked at the genius. "Is she a screamer with you, too? She was for me."

Spencer didn't say anything. Instead, he tightened his grip on Emi's hand.

"She's a slut, isn't she?" Lawrence continued without a care, "Are you even sure that the baby's yours?"

At this point, Emi couldn't take it any longer and lunged towards the glass. Spencer quickly pulled her back before she could hurt herself, and the officers moved forward to pull the cackling man out of his chair.

"Oh, man! Now, _that's_ a suspicious reaction," the man laughed, "That was exactly what I needed before I die."

"I hope you have a painful death," Emi spat, "I hope they put the electricity to the highest power possible!"

"I think it's time for us to go," Spencer said, pulling Emi further away from the glass and towards the exit, "Let's go, Emi..."

"You will be there for my execution, right?" Lawrence asked, "I want to see my proudest accomplishment before I go off to heaven."

As he pushed Emi through the exit, Spencer turned back to glare at the man. "Only good people go to heaven," he said before leaving.

"Oh, God, I can't believe I did that," Emi muttered to herself, gripping her hair tightly, "I can't believe I played into his hands like that!"

"Emi, it's okay," Spencer said pulling the woman's hands away from her head.

"Spencer, he's wrong!" Emi cried frantically, "It _is_ -I'm not-I've never slept with anyone else but you!"

"I know," Spencer said, rubbing her knuckles soothingly, "You need to calm down, Emi. Stress isn't good for the baby. Breathe in...breathe out..."

Emi listened and took a few shuddery breaths. "Okay, I'm calm now," she said, "Time to go to work now, I guess."

* * *

"You guys hear that Elle was cleared?" Spencer said as he took the seat on the jet next to Emi. They were currently on the way to Texas for a case. "Took them a week to decide, but she's finally cleared."

"Self-defense," Morgan said in disbelief.

"So it was a good shot," Spencer said defending Elle.

"She hit what she was aimin' for," JJ said, exchanging glances with Morgan and Emi.

"That's not what I meant," Spencer said.

Emi placed a hand on his arm. "We know," she told him.

"If they cleared her, how come she's not here with us?" Morgan pointed out, "Or Hotch?"

"Focus on the case," Gideon ordered, not once looking back at them.

The four young agents all looked at each other before following Gideon's directions. "Ozona police and autopsy report for Nicholas Faye and Robbie Davis," JJ said, handing everyone a copy of the report.

"Well, the bludgeoning could suggest frustration or rage," Morgan commented.

"With no apparent sexual motivation," Spencer pointed out, flipping through the papers, "That's rare when the victims are this young."

"This unsub seems to be taking pleasure from the kill itself," Gideon noticed.

"So if it's not sexual, what's the significance of targeting young males?" Morgan questioned.

"Most serial killers prey upon specific types to carry out their fantasies of revenge," Spencer stated just as JJ's phone rang. "Bundy killed women that looked like an ex-girlfriend who jilted him. Dahmer claimed that schoolyard harassment fed into his fury."

"Okay, so then the kids could be representing someone victimized the offender," Morgan guessed.

"Like a young male from his past," Spencer agreed.

"Well, that's a long time to hold a grudge," Emi muttered, "So, what? Are they surrogate for a bully? Controlling older brother?"

"That's unlikely," JJ said after she got off the phone, "They just found another body. 11-year-old girl."

Emi clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Why would they just suddenly change the victimology?"

"Maybe the girl wasn't the target. Maybe she just got in the way," Morgan suggested.

"Or the sex of his victim isn't significant," Gideon said, "The pace he's killing certainly indicates a velocity of change."

"We can't surveil every kid in Ozona, how are we supposed to keep 'em all safe?" JJ wondered.

"Enforce a curfew?" Spencer suggested.

Emi shook her head, "We could try but there will always be that one kid who doesn't want to listen."

"Kids shouldn't have to worry about something like that," Morgan said in annoyance.

"Tell me about it," JJ sighed, "The woods were the only thing I was afraid of when I was a kid."

"Seriously?" Morgan said in surprise, "Thought you grew up in a small town."

"Yeah, surrounded by woods," JJ confirmed.

Morgan chuckled, "Bummer for you."

"Yeah."

"Only thing I was afraid of was the dark," Morgan told her.

"Some of us still are," Spencer commented, causing Emi to playfully nudge him.

"When we land, Morgan and Reid go to the new crime scene. The little girl, " Gideon told them, "Emi and I will look at the scene where Nicholas Faye was found."

* * *

"Are you sure it's safe for a pregnant woman to be roaming the woods?" Chief Jones asked, giving Emi a wary look.

"Oh, don't worry about me," Emi said, "I have a gun."

The chief nodded in acceptance and led them further into the woods. "This is where he dumped the body," he told Emi and Gideon, stopping at a now empty spot.

"This isn't a dump site," Gideon said, looking around, "Murder happened right here."

"The autopsy report show that there was no signs of a struggle," Emi agreed.

"Poor little guy, never had a chance," Jones said solemnly, "So far into these woods, no one could hear him scream."

"Exactly how his killer wanted it," Gideon said.

"The last 2 months, we've lost more children in this town than we have in my whole lifetime," the chief said, "The others were car accidents. The residents are terrified. Got an 8-year-old myself."

"Victims knew their killer," Gideon declared, "They followed him to this spot."

"What makes you think that?" Jones asked.

"No kid would go deep into the woods without someone they trusted," Emi explained, "The guy probably stashed his weapon here beforehand."

"Which means we're looking for someone intelligent, methodical," Gideon stated.

"Methodical?" the chief repeated in disbelief, "Bashed the kid's head in, looks like a moment of rage to me."

"I agree," Gideon said.

"And that's what makes it confusing," Emi stated.

* * *

"Can I have your attention, please?" At those words, everyone in the station turned to give Gideon their full attention. "Good afternoon. We want to make something clear. Due to the velocity of change, we predict this offender could try to strike again at any time. His confidence builds with every attack."

Look for someone physically fit, shy, kind of disposition, someone you may trust with your own child," Morgan advised, "Because the killer targets kids, he may be small himself. And though we keep referring to this unsub as 'he,' do not rule out a woman."

"Excuse me?" a pregnant woman called, following Deputy Mack with a small boy in tow.

"Chief, you're gonna want to hear this," the deputy said.

"My son Matthew never came home today," the woman said.

"Here we go," Morgan muttered to Emi.

"When was he last seen?" Emi asked kindly.

"His teacher saw him in the parking lot after school," the mother told her.

"Search team," the chief ordered. With those words, the officers dispersed to do their jobs.

"Okay, Reid, the school is on Willow Road," Morgan said, pointing to the location on the map.

"The boy was abducted, then this area would be the most secluded nearby," Spencer mumbled.

Emi glanced at the pregnant woman just she started to take deep breaths.

"JJ, can you grab her a chair to sit in?" Emi requested. Nodding, JJ quickly pulled a chair over and helped the woman sit down.

"Thank you," the woman breathed. Her gaze trailed over to Emi's stomach. "How long?"

"4 months," Emi answered, rubbing her belly, "And you?"

"A little over 7 months."

"How old is Matthew?" JJ asked.

"Uh, he turned 8 in August."

"I have a niece that's 8," JJ told her, "Very resourceful at that age."

Gideon, who had been watching the little boy with the woman, finally decided to the approach the boy. "What are you thinkin' about over here?"

"Nothing."

"Well, you look awful upset to be thinkin' about nothin'," Gideon pointed out, earning a small shrug. "You look like you have a secret. Secret's important. Is it about your brother?"

"Honey, is that true?" the mother asked, gently placing a hand on her son's shoulder, "Are you hidin' somethin'?"

The boy didn't say anything. He just turned to look at Gideon.

"You want to protect him, right?" Gideon assumed, "It's what a brother's for."

After a few more seconds, the boy finally spoke. "Matty said he was just gonna ring the doorbell," he said, softly, "at the haunted house...on the hill."

"Finnegan's place," the chief realized.

"Who's Finnegan?" Gideon asked.

"This old guy who lives in that house," the boy answered.

"Forever. Kind of a local legend," the chief elaborated, "Ghost story."

"About?" Spencer said, asking for more clarification.

"Supposedly, he watches the kids from his window..." The chief paused as he watched the mother and boy leave. "...Hunts 'em. Eats 'em. Standard."

"Folks have been tellin' that story since I was a kid," James Charles said.

"Why haven't we heard about this?" Morgan demanded, "Fables are often sparked by an ounce of truth. We should exhaust every possibility."

* * *

"So you're gonna go check out the haunted house?" Emi assumed as she handed her husband a cup of coffee.

"Mhm."

"And let me guess, I'm gonna stay here because I'm helpless," Emi guessed.

"It's because you're _pregnant_ ," Spencer corrected.

"To-mato, to-moto, po-tato, po-toto," Emi said, sitting down, "Admit it, Spence. You're actually really glad that I'm pregnant and can't go out into the dangerous field."

"I just don't want you getting hurt," Spencer said, grabbing a hold of Emi's hand.

"Yeah? Well, I don't want you getting hurt, either," Emi retorted, squeezing Spencer's hand, "But look at what we're doing. We work for the FBI. It wouldn't be same if there wasn't any danger."

Spencer couldn't help but chuckle in agreement, "That's true."

"Reid," Morgan called, gaining both of the Reids' attentions, "We gotta go, now."

"Be safe," Emi said, giving Spencer a quick peck on the cheek, "Love you."

"I love you, too."

* * *

While Gideon, Morgan, and Spencer went to check Finnegan's house out, a deputy had found the man dead in the forest, hidden under some leaves. He was determined to be dead for over a week, before the deaths of the children, however, the agents had found signs of someone still living in the house.

Currently, Spencer, Emi, Morgan, and JJ were on their break, drinking of coffee.

"Why the woods, JJ?" Morgan asked the blonde in curiosity.

"Hmm?"

"Your fear," Morgan clarified, "You said it was of the woods."

"Uh, I used to be a camp counselor when I was a teenager in the woods up in Vermont," JJ told him, "I had the night shift-tuck the girls in, turn off the lights, you know, the typical drill. Everything seemed fine, all the kids were asleep. You know, nothing seemed out of the ordinary..." Emi quickly took a sip of coffee to hide her smirk. She knew where this was going.

"...until I noticed that there was some blood on the hallway floor, so I followed the trail out to the camp director's cabin, walked up to his bed, and he was just lying there underneath his covers...dead," JJ continued, "Someone stabbed him. I ran out of there so fast. Out the door, down the hall. I just remember it being really dark. Once I got to the door, there was another counselor there. I guess she heard me scream.

"They caught the caretaker on his way to town. I guess he still had the knife on him. Anyway, I guess that's probably when I decided I didn't like the woods," JJ finished, sharing a knowing look with Emi.

Morgan and Spencer shared shocked looks. "You're serious," Morgan said.

JJ stayed silent for a few seconds for a dramatic effect before shaking her head with a laugh. "No." At this point, Emi had to laugh at the looks of on Spencer's and Morgan's faces.

"No, I...you fell for that?" JJ asked in disbelief, laughing when Morgan let out a groan of defeat. "Come on, I don't know why I'm afraid of the woods. I just...I am." To turn the topic away from her, JJ pointed at Spencer. "Why is _he_ still afraid of the dark?"

"Yeah, Reid, why _are_ you still afraid of the dark?" Morgan asked.

"'Cause of the inherent absence of light," Spencer answered, saying it as if it was obvious.

Emi scoffed, "Yeah right."

"JJ, that was pretty good," Morgan complimented, reaching for his phone that had just began to ring. "Just know that paybacks are a bitch."

"I'm shakin'," JJ said mockingly.

Morgan shook his head as he answered the phone. "Yeah?...Hey, girl, you got somethin' good for me?" With those words, the other three knew that Morgan was talking to Garcia.

"Two?"

"Okay, but which one of the victims? Why don't you coordinate with the Ozona coroner's office for a match?"

As he listened to Garcia say something, Morgan's eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah, he's a local guidance counselor, helping us on this case."

Emi, Spencer, and JJ all exchanged confused looks with each other.

"I know exactly how to find him, Garcia. Thanks." Morgan snapped his phone shut and looked at Emi. "Call Gideon. We just found our unsub."

* * *

When they went to arrest James Charles, they found that he had possession of a red cap. The same red cap that Nicholas Faye had been wearing when he was murdered. While Morgan and Gideon went to the station to interrogate James, JJ had found out that his son wasn't even in school. Emi, Spencer, and JJ were now in James Charles's house, hoping to find any clues that help them determine what the man had done with his son.

"Is this an Epi-pen?" Emi muttered to herself as she picked up a clear, plastic tube off the dining table. "Strange..." She turned to Spencer, who was currently searching the kitchen. "Hey, Spence, can you check the refrigerator for me?"

Listening, Spencer went over to the refrigerator and was shocked by what he found inside. "Whoa..." Emi walked over to see what Spencer was shocked by, then nodded. "I thought so."

As JJ walked over to them, Emi pulled out her cell to call Gideon.

" _Yeah_."

"An Epi-pen and a refrigerator filled with dairy products that have sealed with duct tape," she told him.

" _Thank you,_ " Gideon said, " _That's helpful_."

"What? What is it?" JJ asked in confusion.

"The unsub isn't James Charles," Emi said, shaking her head sadly, "It's his son."

* * *

Jeffrey Charles. That was James Charles's son's name. His next target was Tracy Bell, and he had tricked her into following him into the woods. The agents were currently at the bus stop where Tracy would've gotten off.

"You know, after his mom left, Jeffrey probably resented the fact that his dad spends more time at work with other kids than with his own," Morgan stated.

"And took out that rage on any kid he viewed as having what he didn't," Gideon added.

"So Tracy's mom said the bus would have dropped her off here after school. She was supposed to walk home with a neighbor," JJ informed them.

"That's most likely when Jeffrey approached, but where would he have taken her?" Spencer questioned, looking around.

"There's such heavy patrolling in this town," JJ said, "How do you manage to take a little girl without being seen?"

"Because we taught him," Morgan sighed, "Nobody's gonna think anything of two kids walking together-the buddy system, remember? In the process of educating the public, we educated a killer."

"He used the buddy system to his advantage," Emi said, "Not only would the adults brush it off, but also the kids. My guess is that the neighbor that Tracy was supposed to walk with, walked off without her. Jeffrey took that as an opportunity. Probably tricked Tracy into following him by using the buddy system."

"When it's off-season from baseball, where would a 12-year-old kid hang out?" JJ wondered.

"The park," Gideon realized.

"Surrounded by woods," Emi pointed out.

Gideon glanced down at Emi's baby bump. "You safe to run?"

Emi gave him a thumbs up, "I got the okay from my doctor."

"Then, let's go."

* * *

When they reached the nearest park, the only thing they found was a discarded baseball mitt and a backpack.

"It's Tracy Belle's," Spencer said, picking up the backpack.

"Jeffrey's got her in these woods," Gideon said, "Split up."

* * *

Hearing a scream, Emi quickly sprinted to where the scream was coming from, arriving at the same time as Gideon.

"Hey!" Gideon rushed forward and grabbed the redheaded boy, pulling the baseball bat out of Jeffrey's hold.

"Are you okay?" Emi asked, pulling the girl into her.

"Yeah," Tracy said, clinging onto Emi tightly.

* * *

The agents were now on the jet, flying back to Quantico. JJ was asleep, Gideon was on the phone, Morgan was listening to his music, and Spencer was reading a book. Emi was sitting next to her husband, her fingers playing with the bead bracelet that Tracy had made for her.

"I should have said something," she randomly said, catching Spencer's and Morgan's attention.

"What?"

"I should've said something," Emi repeated, "To Gideon or Hotch or any of you guys. Spencer and I...we talked to Elle that night, and I...I knew she wasn't feeling alright. It's just...I really _wanted_ her to be alright. She told me she was and I believed her because I wanted to. I should've-"

"Emi, I am at as much blame as you are," Spencer said.

"Reid, Emi, listen to me," Morgan said sternly, "Do _not_ do that to yourself. You both were just trying to help a friend. You hear me? Don't go there. Elle made her own choice. That's on her."

Emi reluctantly nodded. She didn't say anything, but instead, just rested her head on Spencer's shoulder.

* * *

When they walked into the bullpen in Quantico, Emi instantly noticed that Elle's desk was cleared.

"She's gone..." Emi whispered in disappointment. That was when she noticed a note on her own desk.

 _Nearest Starbucks. I'll be there. ~Elle_

"Hey, uh, Spencer? You can go home without me," Emi told her husband, "I gotta meet up with someone."

* * *

"Hey, Elle," Emi said softly, gaining the brunette's attention.

"Hey, Emi."

"So, you're actually leaving," Emi said, sitting down in the extra chair in front of Elle.

"Yeah," Elle confirmed, "I actually am."

Emi let out a weak chuckle and shook her head. "I just...I can't believe it. Gosh, you're not even gone yet, but I'm already missing you."

"I'll miss you, too," Elle said, giving Emi a soft smile, "You were like a younger sister to me."

"And you were like an older sister to me," Emi replied. "So where you going? What are you going to do?"

"Honestly? I'm not sure yet," Elle answered honestly. "I got some relatives up in New York, so I might go there. Probably see if they have an available spot in the Sex offenders department."

"I'll be sure to visit," Emi told her.

"You better," Elle laughed, "And bring Reid, and your baby genius when it comes. Don't forget to send pictures of the baby genius when it arrives."

"Will do," Emi agreed. At that moment, Elle's phone beeped.

"I gotta go," Elle said, getting up, "My flight's in an hour and the security's always hell."

"Oh, God, Elle, I'll miss you," Emi sobbed, getting up to give Elle hug. She couldn't but sniffle as tears streamed down her face.

Elle returned it and hugged Emi tightly, a few tears also leaking from her eyes. "Me too."


	16. 2-10 - Lesson Learned

**Review Responses:**

 **Ahowell1993: I'm glad you loved the previous chapter. I hope you enjoy this one as well.**

 **Hippiechic81: It was not my intent to take away Spencer's bond with JJ. It was just that for Spencer's birthday, I thought it would make more sense if Emi had a closer relationship with Spencer than JJ, seeing that Emi's his girlfriend. I also understand that JJ's the one who hugs Tracy in the show, but to me, I feel like that's just a small detail, and I don't think it makes much of impact on the story if I change it. I'm sorry if my fanfiction isn't to your liking because of those changes, but if you do decide to keep reading, I hope you will overall enjoy this fanfiction.**

* * *

Emi and Spencer had gotten a call at 6:20 in the morning to come in for a case. To say that Emi was grumpy was an understatement.

"Before you even say anything, it is _not_ a good morning," Emi said grumpily to JJ and Garcia, "I literally woke up at 5 because the baby decided that he, she, they, or _it_ wanted to have a fucking dance party in my stomach. My body is sore, I'm extremely tired, and I'm craving French fries."

"Mornin' to you, too," JJ said in amusement. She turned her attention to the genius behind the frantic Asian. "Mornin' Spence."

"Morning, JJ," Spencer greeted, "Hey, Garcia. Hi, Emily."

Emi paused after hearing the name of a person she didn't know. "Who?" She turned her attention to the table to see that a brunette woman-whom she had never seen before in her life-sitting in one of the chairs. "Who are you?"

"I'm Emily Prentiss," the woman introduced herself. She got up from her chair and stuck a hand out towards Emi.

Emi stared at it for a few seconds before hesitantly shaking it. "Emi Reid."

"Hey, Emi, there something I need you to help me with," JJ said, pulling Emi away from Emily. "Come with me."

JJ and Emi left the conference room and as soon as JJ closed the door, Emi let it all out.

"Who was that?!" Emi demanded, "Emily Prentiss?"

"She came here the other day," JJ explained, "The day you were absence because you had to go visit your doctor and ended up sleeping for the rest of the day."

"I can't believe it," Emi said, her bottom lip quivering, "They've already replaced Elle..."

"Emi, it's been 2 months," JJ said gently.

"But...but I was just starting to get used to not seeing her around," Emi said weakly, "And now I have to see someone else sit at her desk and do her job?" Emi gave JJ a look that resembled one of a kicked puppy. "I miss her, Jay-gee."

"Oh, I know, Em," JJ said, bringing the defeated-looking girl into a hug, "I do, too."

"Hey, guys-oh..." Spencer quickly stepped through the doorway and closed it when he saw the scene in front of him. "What's wrong?"

"Emi misses Elle," JJ told him before mouthing " _Emily_ " to him.

"Oh," Spencer said, nodding in understanding. "Emi, Emily's not as bad as you probably think she is. Just give her a chance."

"Am I interrupting a private moment, here?" They all looked to see Garcia poking her head out of the opened doorway.

"It's nothing important," Emi reassured her, giving the techie a smile.

"Okay," Garcia said, though it was obvious that she didn't believe her, "Um, Hotch, Gideon, and Morgan are here, so we gotta get on with the briefing."

"We'll be right there," Emi told her, rubbing her eyes. She turned to face JJ. "Eye check?" she said, asking JJ to check if her eyes were red.

"You're good," JJ confirmed. Emi nodded and walked past Garcia into the conference room. Garcia, JJ, and Spencer all exchanged worried looks before following the girl.

"Okay, what do we know?" Hotch asked when they all entered the room.

"The DEA raided what they thought was a hardened meth lab right here in northern Virginia," JJ said, grabbing her remote, "But they found this instead." With a press of a button, a picture of a hand-built device came onto the screen.

"That could be a dispersal device for a chemical weapon," Morgan said, "Sophisticated."

"Homeland security's thinking Al Qaeda," JJ told him.

"They've developed devices that span the spectrum of sophistication, some as simple as soda bottles and paint cans," Spencer stated.

"They're called _al ikhteraa._ Literally 'the invention,'" Emily told everyone.

Surprised, Spencer nodded in confirmation, "They are."

"Do we know what the biological or chemical agent is yet?" Hotch asked.

Morgan shook his head, "No, not yet."

"The cell members bailed out through a tunnel. The DEA recovered a Nextel 2-way and managed to intercept a message," JJ said, placing a paper down onto the table, which Emi took. "That's not the transcript."

"No, it's in Arabic," Emily said, peering at the paper, "Uh...'Our friends surprised us and eloped. We can no longer wait for the wedding as planned. We can deliver our next gift at the next crescent.'" When Emily looked up from the note, she saw that everyone was looking at her either impressed or in surprise. "I lived in several middle eastern countries growing up," she explained.

"Next crescent?" Gideon questioned.

"Muslims sometimes use a lunar calendar," Emily explained," I'd have to look it up to-"

"Next crescent moon is in 2 days," Garcia interrupted.

"No need to search it up. We got Garcia," Emi pointed out.

"So whatever they're attacking, it's happening in less than 48 hours," Gideon guessed.

"It sounds like it, sir," Emily agreed.

"Payment for the Nextel is linked to this man," JJ said, pressing the remote so a picture of a man would appear. "Jind Allah."

"Literally 'Soldier of God,'" Emily translated.

"That's pretty poor operational security for a sophisticated plot," Morgan commented.

"2 months ago, Jind Allah was captured leaving the U.S. using a forged Pakistani passport via Richmond International Airport," JJ continued, "He's been held as a ghost detainee in Guantanamo Bay ever since."

"So technically, he doesn't exist," Garcia said.

"Solider of God isn't a name," Gideon said.

"No, it's most likely a name taken on for the Jihad, meaning 'struggle,'" Emily told him, "Extremists claim it's a holy war."

"Yet the words 'holy' and 'war' never appear together in the _Qu'ran_ ," Spencer pointed out.

"Do we know his real name?" Emi asked.

"CIA interrogators have gotten nothing out of the guy," JJ answered.

"They need us to break him," Gideon realized.

"We do know from past intercepts that he's a recruiter," JJ informed them, "He came into this country to assemble the Omega Cell, a sleeper cell with an unknown mission."

"We have 48 hours to do what the CIA hasn't been able to manage in 2 months," Morgan said.

"We could be looking at the first attack on our soil since 9/11," Gideon sighed.

* * *

While Gideon, Spencer, and Emily went to get information from Jind Allah, Emi, Hotch, and Morgan went to search the house where the bomb-like device was found.

"Bonnie Ryan," a woman said, shaking Hotch's hand.

"Aaron Hotchner," Hotch replied.

"DEA team. We ran this raid," Ryan said, also shaking Morgan's and Emi's hands.

"Derek Morgan, and this is Emi Reid," Morgan said, introducing himself and Emi. He turned and gestured towards the windows and blinds, "This must have slowed you down some, huh?"

"Enough for them to get out through the tunnel," Ryan confirmed.

"They must have done escape drills," Hotch guessed as the three agents followed Ryan into the room where the device was found.

"Hey, Morgan," a man greeted, shaking Morgan's hand.

"Hey, Kenny. Been a minute, man," Morgan said.

"Yeah, it is."

"We good in here?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Kenny said, "Everything's been rendered safe. Nothing's gonna hurt nobody or the baby." At those last words, he gave Emi a pat on the back.

Emi gave the man an appreciative smile, "Thanks."

"Wow. These guys weren't messing around," Morgan muttered as he stared at the device, "Hotch, Emi, these tubes surround what would be the explosive charge. And this cylinder right here? It's gotta be where they put whatever bio or chem agent they plan on dispersing."

"That's a happy thought," Kenny said sarcastically.

"Yeah. Tell me about it," Morgan agreed, "You think you can figure out what they were trying to make in here, Em?"

"If you can find a list of the chemicals they used, sure," Emi said, bending down to look at the cylinder, "Otherwise, I'll need some complicated chemistry equipment that we probably don't have. But I'll still try anyway. You two go search the other rooms."

A few minutes later, Morgan called Emi into another room. "Hey, Emi, I think I just found you that list of chemicals," Morgan told her, handing the woman a bunch of papers.

As Emi continued to read the list of chemicals, her eyes grew bigger and bigger. "Oh, my lord," she muttered.

"What is it?" Hotch asked.

"I'm not 100% positive, yet-I'll need to check with Garica-but..." Emi sucked in a breath, "I'm fairly sure this is a list of additives needed to weaponize anthrax."

* * *

Later that night, Garcia called Hotch with the backup location of the Omega cell's. They were now in front of a construction site in Annandale, preparing for a raid. SWAT and DEA were already there when Emi, Morgan, and Hotch arrived.

"Hey, guys, we're going silent tonight, no comms," Kenny told the three agents as they got out of their car.

"Let's be careful. We don't know what to expect," Ryan advised, "Ready?"

"Ready."

"Let's do it."

"You only go in if you hear us call 'all clear,'" Hotch told Emi, "Got it?"

"Got it." Emi said with a nod, "Be careful." She watched as Hotch, Morgan, and the SWAT members stormed into the building. After a minute-give or take a few seconds-Emi heard the "all clear" from Morgan.

"This place is completely empty," she heard Morgan say as she entered the building, "We missed them again."

Emi let out a frustrated sigh, "I'll call Spencer."

" _You got Gideon, Prentiss, and me_ ," Spencer said when he answered her call.

"Hey, Spence. We're at cell location number 2," Emi told him, looking around, "From the looks of it, there's no cell members, no lab, and no dispersal devices. We're still looking for escape tunnels."

" _Call us_ ," Gideon ordered.

"Will do," Emi said, ending the call.

* * *

Not a minute later, Spencer called Emi again.

"Spence?" Emi said, answering the call, "Whats wrong-"

" _Get everybody out of there,_ " Gideon ordered, " _Now! Now! Now!_ "

Emi's eyes widened and snapped her phone shut. "Everyone out!" she shouted, "It's a trap!"

Morgan quickly moved to pull Emi out of the building first while Hotch shouted at everyone to get out.

Luckily, Morgan and Emi had managed to get to a far enough distance that when the building exploded, they only fell onto their backs.

* * *

" _Emi! Are you okay?!_ " Emi winced at how loud Spencer was over the phone and pulled the device away from her ear.

"I'm fine, Spencer," Emi reassured him.

She heard Spencer let out a sigh of relief. " _Oh, thank God. How about everyone else?_ "

"Hotch and Morgan are fine," she told him, "We did lose a SWAT agent, though."

" _Oh..._ " After a few small seconds of silence, Spencer spoke again. " _And the baby?_ "

Emi smiled and gently placed her hand on her stomach. She felt the baby kick in response. "The EMTs checked. The baby's fine, but they suggest I go to the ER to have it checked thoroughly. I'll call you back with an update."

" _Okay. Love you._ "

"Love you, too."

"You alright, Emi?" Hotch asked, as he and Ryan approached the woman. Morgan also joined the group and leaned against the back of the ambulance, next to Emi.

"Yeah," Emi told Hotch, "Although I'm gonna go with the EMTs to hospital so they can check on the baby."

"Do you need me to come with you?" Hotch asked.

Emi shook her head, "Nah, it's fine. I'll probably just call JJ to pick me up."

* * *

"How's the baby?" Garcia demanded as soon as JJ led Emi into Garcia's lair.

"I'm fine, thanks," Emi said sarcastically, jokingly rolling her eyes.

"Morgan already told me that you're fine," Garcia said impatiently, "But what about the baby?"

"The doctors checked, and they said that the baby's fine," Emi said, sitting down in an extra chair.

"Do you know the gender, yet?" JJ asked, sitting down next to Emi.

Emi shook her head, "No. Spencer and I both want to be surprised. We also don't want to gender-type this baby, so we're getting unisex baby stuff."

"That's a good idea," JJ said before the two turned their attentions back to Garcia and the case.

"So, how goes it with the CIA?" JJ asked, gesturing towards the computer screens.

"I don't know what Gideon said to them, but they are feeding me information like crazy," Garcia said.

"They sure do generate intelligence," JJ muttered.

"Yeah. Hopefully not too much to interpret," Garcia agreed.

* * *

"Most of these tips are so new, they haven't even been authenticated yet," JJ said as her eyes scanned one of Garcia's monitors.

"Yeah, but there's nothing in the established information that's remotely helpful," Garcia countered just as a little window popped up. "Wait a minute. Anthrax."

Emi's resting eyes shot open. "What?"

"Genimmune. A Dutch biotech firm reported that they may have had a security breach involving anthrax last week," Garcia read.

"What? _May have_?" JJ repeated.

"They're still doing a security and inventory sweep, but they may be missing up to 20 grams of lab grade anthrax," Garcia continued.

"20 grams," JJ repeated in disbelief.

"That could kill a quarter billion people," Emi calculated, her eyes widening in horror.

* * *

"CIA is funneling you their Dutch terror watch list," JJ told Garcia after checking their text on her phone.

"Okay, I can cross reference that with any port of entry information we have, as well as customs and immigration enforcement," Garcia said.

JJ sighed. "You know, it'd be a lot easier if there was a centralization of all this information."

"Oh, dream on, J," Garcia scoffed, "No one wants the other kids peeing in their sand box."

Emi snorted, "You're metaphors are always weird yet very entertaining, Garcia."

"I try," Garcia said smugly. "Tariq Muhammad. Dutch citizen, Islamic convert," she said after her computer found a match, "Traveled here 4 days ago under his original name...Andre Janssen. And we have the address he listed on his customs form."

"Got it, and thank you," Emi said before reading the address aloud for JJ to text to Morgan.

* * *

" _Hey, Emi._ "

"Elle!" Emi beamed as she leaned against the wall outside of Garcia's lair. "How's New York treating ya?"

" _About the same as it's been treating me for the last 2 months,_ " Elle said, " _We managed to catch and stop a guy who had been kidnapping girls and selling them into the sex trafficking business._ "

"That's great!" Emi said, "We're actually in the middle of a case right now."

" _I figured._ " Emi heard Elle let out a soft chuckle. " _I heard they finally found a replacement for me._ "

Emi made a face at Elle's choice of words. "Emily Prentiss. From what JJ and Garcia told me, she's a diplomat's kid."

" _And from the tone of your voice, I don't think you're that fond of her_ ," Elle guessed.

Emi sighed, "It's just-I'm not...I miss you, Elle."

" _Emi, it's been 2 months_ ," Elle said gently, " _It's time for you to move on. At least give her a chance._ "

Emi couldn't help but laugh. "It sounds like we broke up and you're telling me to see other people."

" _Yeah, well, either way, you should get to know this Emily Prentiss woman_ ," Elle told her, " _From what I've heard from JJ and Garcia, she doesn't seem too bad._ "

"Yeah, okay," Emi relented.

" _Listen, I gotta go,_ " Elle said," _But promise me, you'll at least try to get along with her._ "

"Promise," Emi said, "Bye, Elle."

" _Bye, Emi._ "

Just as Emi ended the call, JJ poked her head out the doorway. "Hey, you might wanna come in for this. Gideon's got a plan.

* * *

Gideon's plan was to have Garcia put a video of a new channel reporting a terrorist attack up on the monitor of where Gideon, Spencer, and Emily were. Using the video, the three agents managed to trick Jind Allah into revealing where the attack was planned to be-the grand opening of the USA Mall in McLean Virginia. Luckily, Morgan and Hotch got there in time, and managed to stop the attack just before it happened.

Currently, Emi was sitting at her desk, waiting for Gideon, Spencer, and Emily to come back.

"Hey, welcome back," Emi greeted, giving her husband a hug when he approached his desk, "You must be tired."

"Very," Spencer agreed.

"I already finished both of our paperwork so we can go straight home," Emi told him.

"I love you," Spencer sighed.

Emi rolled her eyes and laughed, "I know, I know. How about you go to the car first and get it started. There's something I gotta do."

Spencer nodded and grabbed Emi's bag before leaving the bullpen. Emi watched him leave before turning her attention to Emily, who was currently looking at her desk in confusion.

"I, uh, I had some extra time so I decided to complete your paperwork, too," Emi told the woman, "Don't worry, you won't get in trouble. As long as they're completed, the higher ups don't really care."

"Oh, thanks," Emily said, giving her a smile.

Emi smiled back and fiddled her thumbs. "So, yesterday morning, we kind of got off to a bad start, and I'm really sorry about that," she apologized, "It's just that...the woman before you-Elle Greenaway-she was like a sister to me, so seeing someone replace her...it's just a little weird to me."

"I'm not trying to replace her," Emily reassured her, "but I can see why you might think that."

"Can we start over?" Emi requested, sticking a hand out, "Hi, I'm Emi Reid."

"Emily Prentiss," Emily said, shaking the woman's hand, "It's nice to meet you."

"You know, this might be a bit in advance, but in about a month or so, JJ, Garcia, and I are going to have a girls' night out. I'd love for you to come," Emi offered.

"Drinks, food, and boys using bad pick up lines to get in bed with you?" Emily said jokingly, "I'm in."

Emi laughed and grinned, "I think you're gonna be my new best friend."


	17. 2-11 - Sex, Birth, Death

**A/N: I am so sorry for taking so long to update! Junior year in high school is a struggle. It is also because of that, this chapter might seem sloppy(?) But I hope you guys enjoy anyway!**

* * *

"We've only been here 5 minutes," Garcia whispered to JJ and Emi.

"Yeah, but look at her," JJ said, gesturing towards Emily, who was currently talking to a guy, "She broke away from the group. Guy saw her alone, felt confident, and made his move."

"Not to mention, she is absolutely gorgeous," Emi added, "If I wasn't married to Spencer, I would've turned gay for her instantly."

"Turned gay for who now?" Emily asked in interest as she joined the group again, handing JJ and Garcia their drinks and Emi some water.

"For you, of course," Emi said, dramatically flipping her hair. She then noticed the guy following Emily. "Who's that?"

"Ladies, this is Brad," Emily introduced, "A real _FBI agent_."

JJ and Emi exchanged amused looks as Garcia decided to play along. "Really?"

"Really."

"No way," JJ joined in.

"That's exciting. What's it like at Quan-tee-co?" Garcia asked Brad, purposely pronouncing the name wrong.

"It's, uh, quite impressive," Brad said.

"What department are you in?" JJ asked, somehow managing to eat her nut seductively.

"That's classified," Brad said with a smirk on his face.

"Must be really tough keeping all those secrets," Emi commented.

"Oh, it's you know, it's a skill like anything else," Brad said confidently, "Carpenters are good at building stuff, measuring. FBI is good at keeping secrets and kicking criminal ass."

At those words, the girls couldn't help but laugh.

"Wow, well, somebody's gotta do it," Emily said, "Oh, do you have to carry your gun and badge with you everywhere you go?"

"Affirmative."

"Oh, can we see it?" Emi asked excitedly.

"See what?"

"Your badge," Emily repeated, causing Brad to let out a nervous chuckle.

"Please," Garcia begged.

"I'm sorry," Brad said, "That's-"

"Classified," the girl finished.

"Figures."

"Of course."

"Tell me, Brad, does it look anything like this?" Emily asked, taking out her _real_ FBI badge.

"Uh, or this?" JJ also took out her badge along with Garcia and Emi.

"Or maybe this?" Garcia added.

"Oh, or how about this?" Emi asked, gesturing to her own badge.

Brad stared at the badges in shock and just simply walked away, causing the girls to burst out laughing.

"Poor little ass," JJ chuckled as she put her badge away, "It's a tough job."

"Lady, you are officially in my top 8, and I am _so_ blogging about this later," Garcia told Emily.

"My lord, I think I just fell in love with you even more than I did before," Emi said, jokingly before letting out a groan after feeling the baby kick her stomach. "5 minutes in here and it seems like my baby has decided that it wants to go home. You guys go on and enjoy. I'm gonna call Spencer to pick me up and me home."

"Aw, bye Emi."

"See you tomorrow."

"Get plenty of rest."

"Thanks. I will."

* * *

"Okay, so we're 6 months into my pregnancy and we still don't know what we're going to do," Emi admitted to JJ.

"What do you mean?" JJ asked.

"Well, after my 3-month maternity leave is over, there won't be anybody left to take care of the baby," Emi explained.

"What about a nanny?" JJ suggested.

"I don't really know..." Emi said, biting her lip, "Can I really trust someone I don't know to take care of my baby?"

"You could always have Garcia run background checks," JJ pointed out, "I'm sure she would love to."

"I suppose," Emi agreed, "Okay. I guess I'll ask Garcia to search for nannies in her free time."

JJ nodded in agreement. "Good idea. So, where _is_ Spencer anyway?"

"Well, I had a check-up this morning, but it took Spencer a while to wake up, so he told me to take the car and go without him," Emi explained, "He took the subway, so he should be here any minute now."

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear," JJ said, waving to someone behind Emi, "Hey Spence."

"JJ, who's your contact at the DC Police?" Spencer asked.

"Uh, Victor Barnes," JJ answered, exchanging a confused look with Emi, "Why? You need me to call him?"

Spencer didn't say anything; instead, he went straight to the phone on Emi's desk and dialed a number. "Hi. Detective Victor Barnes, please?"

"What's wrong?" Gideon asked, joining the small group.

Spencer gestured towards a sketch he had made of a boy. "Need to get that to everyone as soon as possible," he told Gideon before speaking to someone on the phone. "Uh, hi. Detective Barnes, this is Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid at the Behavioral Analysis Unit at Quantico. Have you had any recent murders involving prostitutes, maybe just Jane Does? They would have been stabbed to death, and their hair would've been cut off by the killer." He paused, listening to the detective speak. "When was the most recent victim?" Another short pause. "I'll explain when I see you. I'll meet you in a half-hour."

"What's going on?" Gideon asked.

"DC may have a serial killer," Spencer said, "I think I just let him get away."

* * *

"At night, no one can see down there. During the day, you just duck behind the dumpster or into a doorway." Emi, Morgan, and Emily were currently in the alley where the most recent body was found. They were talking to any prostitute they could find for information. Right now, only two prostitutes were willing to talk to them.

"Business is pretty heavy here in the mornings?" Emily asked.

"How do I know you're not just lookin' to crack down on us?" one of them asked back.

"Because I'm telling you," Emily told her firmly, "We're here trying to protect you."

"A lot of Johns from the hill stop by on their way to work," the girl finally answered.

"We always say the same politicians yellin' about cleanin' up the hill, the ones droppin' 50 bucks with us before they make the speech," the other girl added.

"It's true, and the more important they think they are, the quicker they accidentally finish up with us," the first girl agreed, "It's weird like that."

"No, that's pretty much universal," Emily disagreed, making Morgan roll his eyes.

"You recognize him at all?" Morgan asked, holding out the picture that Spencer had drawn of the boy.

"I don't know his name or nothin'."

"He hangs around, tries to pretend like he's not watching us," the second girl told them, "He's just a horny kid, you know."

"You didn't see him talking to any of the other girls out here?" Morgan pressed.

The second girl shrugged. "I just figured he's the kind gets his little bit of danger and goes home and takes business into his own hands."

"Is he the one who did this?" the first girl asked.

"We don't know," Emi told her, "But someone did, which is why you girls need to be careful."

"We stick to the daylight and only work the high-end blocks," the second girl informed them.

"There you girls are! I've been lookin' all over for ya!" The group turned around to see another girl running towards them; however, she soon came to a halt when she recognized a certain pregnant woman.

"Emi?!"

Emi's eyes widened when she recognized the new prostitute as her cousin. "Quinn?" Emi scanned her cousin's appearance and frown. "What the hell are you doing here, and _why_ the hell are you wearing _that_?!"

Emily and Morgan exchanged wary looks, both aware of the now tense atmosphere. "Well, it's pretty obvious that you two need to do some talking," Emily said, grabbing Morgan's arm to lead him away, "So, Morgan and I will escort these girls back to wherever they need to go, and we will meet up with you at the car, Emi." With those words said, Emily, Morgan, and the two prostitutes quickly walked away.

Meanwhile, Emi and Quinn were staring at each other intensely.

"What are you doing here, Emi?" Quinn asked.

Emi scoffed and rolled her eyes. "'What am _I_ doing here?' What about you! You don't contact the family for 2 years and suddenly I find you in an alley dressed like a prostitute?!"

"Not _like_ a prostitute, I _am_ a prostitute," Quinn corrected.

"You want to correct me on that?!" Emi shrieked, "What the hell is wrong with you? 2 years without any word, Quinn, _2 years_." Emi took a deep breath and sighed, "What happened to you, Quinn?"

"I dropped out of acting school," her cousin revealed.

"Yeah, I know," Emi said, crossing her arms, "You sent Auntie and Uncle a letter and never came home. That was two years ago, and the last time we even _heard_ from you."

"Well, it's not like I could've gone home and faced them," Quinn protested, "They would've rubbed it in my face that they were right. There's no way I'm going to my parents for help."

"First of all, it's better than leaving them to worry for two years, wondering if you were even still _alive_ ," Emi said, "And secondly, you could've gone to me. I would've helped you."

"Help me? How? You're pregnant!" Quinn shouted, gesturing towards Emi's stomach, "If anything, _you_ need the help."

Emi glared at her cousin for the comment she made. "Well, I was going to say that I could pay you to help me during my pregnancy and then be the nanny for my child. I can only stay home on maternity leave for so long before I have to go back to work, and my work isn't exactly based on a schedule. Spencer and I could up-and-go at any moment and we need someone who is available to take care of the baby anytime.

"The people who lived in the apartment next door just moved, and I'm sure I can talk to my landlord about having you stay there," Emi continued, "Spencer and I could pay for the rent, and there's some shops a few blocks away from the apartment if you ever want to get a part-time job-"

"Look, I appreciate the thought, but I don't need your pity," Quinn interrupted, "And I _definitely_ don't need your help."

"Well, you obviously do if you're out on the street selling your body to strangers," Emi shouted.

"You see, this is why I couldn't come to you," Quinn sighed, "You would've just criticized everything I did."

"Uh, no, you're wrong. First of all, I am _not_ one of your parents. I would never criticize you. Second of all, if you'd just come to me in the first place, we wouldn't be having this argument in the first place!"

"You know what? No. I'm done. I refuse to just waste my time arguing with you," Quinn said, walking away.

"That should be me saying that!" Emi shrieked, " _I'm_ the one on a case. Ugh!" Emi let out a frustrated groan before reluctantly walking back to the car where Emily and Morgan were waiting.

"Looks like someone angered the stressed-out pregnant lady," Morgan said in a joking tone; however, Emi just glared at him.

"Not funny," she seethed before climbing into the back of the car.

"Let's just let her cool off," Emily suggested to Morgan.

"Definitely."

* * *

"I really need a nap right now," Emi grumbled, plopping down onto a chair in Garcia's lair.

"Did something happen?" Spencer asked.

"I found Quinn while Emily, Morgan and I were asking prostitutes questions," Emi told him, "And guess who turned out to be a prostitute?"

Spencer frowned. "Quinn? You mean your cousin who went missing two years ago?"

"She wasn't really missing, per se," Emi sighed, "It was more like, she told us she dropped out of acting school and never spoke to any of us since."

"So, what are you gonna do about her?" Garcia asked.

"I don't know," Emi groaned, "Let her be? She seemed so intent on not getting any help from me. But I really do wish she took my offer, though. It would've killed two birds with one stone. She would've gotten a job and place to stay, and I would've found a nanny. Simple."

"She'll come around," Garcia reassured her, "That sounds like a really good offer."

"Thanks," Emi said. "Okay, but enough distractions-time to find that mystery boy."

"But it's impossible," Spencer argued.

"Says you," Garcia interjected.

"There's nothing in the juvenile offender records," Spencer retorted.

"So you think like a high school kid," Garcia said.

"I was 12, and I hadn't been through puberty when I was in high school," Spencer pointed out.

Emi raised her hand. "I can vouch for that."

"Okay. Reset," Garcia said, realizing her mistake. " _I_ think like a high school kid. _You_ think like a profiler.

"He said he was a junior, right?" Garcia asked.

"Mm-hmm."

"The first rule of the teen years, when talking to an authority figure, always lie and say you're older. He's probably a sophomore."

"Okay..." Spencer scratched the back of his neck in thought. "His coat was lamb's wool, but it didn't look vintage. It...fit like it had been tailored for him. That means...money. In D.C., money would mean private school."

"Look at you go," Garcia said, exchanging proud looks with Emi.

"Even a lie has to be within the depth of your own experience, right?" Spencer asked.

"Fair enough, fair enough," Garcia agreed.

"Uh...Pull up the district that serves Northwest High," Spencer requested, staring at the map that popped up on Garcia's screen. "Are there any private schools within those boundaries?"

"Uh, 3," Garcia told him.

"Do any of them offer elective courses at Georgetown?"

"One. The Morton School."

"Pull up the junior class."

"Ah!"

"Uh, sophomore class," Spencer quickly corrected.

"Ah, if I do say so myself," Garcia muttered smugly as she scrolled down the class pictures of the sophomore class.

"Wait, wait. Stop," Spencer ordered.

Garcia clicked on the picture that matched Spencer's drawing. "Nathan Harris."

"We got him!" Spencer exclaimed in surprise. Happily, he turned towards his wife. "Emi, we did it!"

"Good job, Spence," Emi congratulated. "Now go tell Gideon and Hotch. _I'm_ gonna take a quick power nap."

* * *

"Oh man, that was a nice nap." Emi let out a yawn and stretched to wake herself up even more. Getting up from the makeshift bed that Garcia had set up for her, Emi left Garcia's office and began to walk towards the bullpen.

"Oh, hey, Emi," Emily called out, causing the girl to stop in her tracks, "Do you mind getting Nathan Harris from Interrogation? The Juvenile Authorities are here for him."

"Yeah sure," Emi said, turning to make her way to the interrogation room.

Once she reached the room, Emi knocked on the door before entering. "Nathan Harris?" she called, snapping the boy out of his daydream, "The police are here for you."

* * *

Emi led Nathan into the bullpen where they both spotted Spencer with Garcia.

"Dr. Reid?" Nathan called out timidly. Emi simply watched as Nathan slowly walked over to

"Yeah?"

"I know I, um, don't deserve any favors, but...whatever my psych eval says, you promise you'll tell me the truth?" Nathan asked.

Spencer nodded, but Nathan continued to persist. "Um, my mom says a promise doesn't count unless you say it out loud."

To this, Spencer nodded again understandingly. "I promise."

"Okay. Thank you." With a nod of his head, Nathan turned to follow the police officer who had come up behind him.

"You know, he might have killed 2 women," Garcia said gently, "It's not your job to hold his hand through this."

"It's like with my mom," Spencer admitted. Emi reached out and gave his hand a comforting squeeze. Spencer smiled at her and squeezed back before explaining to Garcia. "I used to think that if I could just understand absolutely everything there is to know about schizophrenia, then I'd somehow be able to fix it."

Garcia gave Spencer a grim smile and shook her head sadly. "Can't I'm sorry-"

"Hey guys. I need everybody in the conference room," Hotch said, interrupting them, "If Nathan Harris isn't our unsub, we need a working profile."

Emi gave Spencer's hand one more squeeze before pulling him towards the conference room.

* * *

"D.C. police sent us these photos of the first victim," JJ said, showing them a series of pictures of a dead girl.

"This was the unsub's first kill," Hotch explained, "He held his urges in check for 3 months, and when he couldn't control them any more, he sent this message to the cops." On the last picture was a blonde prostitute with the words "HELP" carved into her stomach. "We know the "HELP" and the hesitation marks means he was ambivalent about the kill. What we don't know is why he chopped the hair."

"He didn't take it with him," Morgan pointed out, "We know it's not a trophy."

"It's probably a way to minimize some of their power," Gideon guessed, "Robs them of their femininity."

"That fits with him killing during the early morning," Spencer said, "It's the time when prostitutes have the least power sexually, as opposed to at night, when he might see them as being on the prowl."

"Hey, I know we're just spitballing this here, but this profile points to Nathan Harris," Emily interjected.

"I don't wanna talk about Nathan Harris," Hotch said.

"Hotch, she is right," Morgan admitted, "He reached out for help. This is an adolescent kid. He's probably intimidated sexually. I don't care how many times he said he didn't do it. He knew about the last victim, and he admitted to getting off on seeing her dead."

"And we've got Nathan in our custody, but what if he's _not_ the killer?" Emi countered, "The killer would kill someone else, we'll realize that it's not Nathan, and we'll have to create a profile again. Doing this now will save us time and hopefully get us a step ahead."

"Alright, alright, alright," Gideon said before Morgan could say anything back, "We know our unsub is a sexual sadist."

"The symbolism of stabbing them probably means he's impotent," Emily said.

"The only way he can get off is by killing," Morgan added.

"Considering that cutting their hair and killing during the early morning both stem from feeling powerless, there's a chance his pathology's more than sexual," Spencer said.

"What do you mean?" JJ asked in confusion.

"This is D.C. Power's the most important commodity. Maybe this guy feels impotent in his professional life as well," Spencer explained.

"But why these particular women?" Morgan questioned.

"Simplest answer is that he has access," Spencer answered.

"Well, northwest D.C. has 3 major hubs of prostitution," JJ said, pulling up a map, "Near Florida Avenue; off Logan Circle; and McPherson Square, where the victims were found."

"Probably works in or around Capitol Hill," Gideon guessed.

"Well, I'll go back out on the street in the morning and see if any of these women know someone who fits the description."

Hotch nodded in agreement. "Good. It's late. Let's go home."

"Um, shouldn't we get word out to the papers?" JJ asked.

"Not yet," Hotch denied.

"Well, it's not too late to make the morning edition," JJ insisted.

"I said no," Hotch said firmly.

* * *

They were now back in the alleys, but not because Emily and Emi were asking questions, but because another prostitute was murdered-the same girl that they had talked to the day before.

"It says, 'FAILURE,'" Emily told Hotch, Morgan, and Spencer, looking at the letters that were carved into the girl's stomach.

Emi took the discarded wallet and looked at the girl's ID. "She was only _sixteen_ ," she informed them in disbelief.

"He's getting angrier and blaming the police for not stopping his impulses," Hotch concluded, referring to the unsub.

"Certainly not cooling off between kills anymore," Spencer added.

"Which means we're looking for a whole lot of bodies," Morgan said.

"Meanwhile in 2 days, Congresswoman Steyer's gonna stand up at the capitol and declare Washington crime-free."

"Oh, the irony in that," Emi muttered, glancing at Emily and Hotch as they exchanged a few words with each other.

"Well, I guess we know Nathan Harris isn't our unsub," Morgan realized.

"Should we call Gideon and tell him not to bother with the eval?" Emily asked.

"No," Spencer denied, "he wants to understand what's happening with him. He deserves to know."

* * *

Now back in Quantico, Emi followed Spencer as he slowly walked into Gideon's office.

"Have you reached a conclusion about Nathan Harris yet?" Spencer asked.

"Profiles and evaluations are an inexact science," Gideon replied.

"But your professional opinion?" Spencer pushed.

Gideon paused before answering, "Not a question of whether he ends up killing someone. It's when."

Emi gave Spencer's arm a comforting squeeze before pulling him away from Gideon's office.

* * *

"So Nathan's in custody?" JJ asked Spencer.

"They're holding him downtown."

A few minutes after Spencer had talked to Gideon, Nathan's mother had called, saying that Nathan was missing. While Spencer and Morgan were out searching for Nathan, another body had been found; however, it wasn't like the previous bodies-no message, sloppy, and killed at night. And even though Nathan was found at a church and claimed that he had been there for 4 hours, he had been taken in as a suspect because of no witnesses.

"You really think he killed that last woman?" JJ asked.

"It's possible," Spencer replied honestly.

"But..."

"Nathan's evolving. This last kill, it feels like a devolution," Spencer pointed out.

"It was sloppy and angry. Nathan's smart and directed," Gideon agreed, "He's used to achieving, and if he decides to kill, it'll be clinical and efficient."

"So where does that leave us?" JJ asked.

"Back to the profile."

* * *

"First victim, he gets a taste for killing," Hotch summarized as the pictures appeared on the screen, "Second, he asks the police to help stop him. By the third, he feels like they've failed him. He's already devolving. The Fourth, no ritual, no message, just a brutal murder."

"It's true that he's devolving," Gideon agreed, "but this last victim definitely had a message. You don't dump a body across from the capitol building by accident."

"Especially not when a congresswoman is about to proclaim success against the crime epidemic," Emily added.

"Exactly."

"Guys, that press conference wasn't announced yet," JJ realized, "Only someone with inside information would know that."

"We profiled that the unsub felt limited to his job," Spencer remembered, "What's more powerless than being a bit player on the Washington stage?"

"You know, if he felt like he did his part to clear the prostitutes off the street, but was never heard, he might have felt so personally betrayed that he literally had to carve his frustration out on those women," Morgan suggested.

"So the profile was basically right," Emi concluded, "We were just wrong about who the message was for."

"We need to get a list of anyone who advanced on behalf of that bill," Gideon ordered.

"Prentiss, Emi, when you two went back to talk to the prostitutes, did a profile ring a bell with any of them?" Hotch asked.

"A few of them described what sounded like the same man, but when we showed them mug shots, we came up empty," Emily told him.

"I can probably convince some of them to come in if we need their help," Emi offered.

"Good thinking," Hotch approved.

"What are you thinking about, Hotch?" Morgan asked.

"I need to get a message to Congresswoman Steyer," Hotch answered before turning to JJ, "How quickly can we put together a press conference?"

"How fast do you need it?" JJ asked, a smug grin on her face.

* * *

After a lot of asking and convincing, Emi finally managed to get some prostitutes to agree to come with her to Quantico-among them was her cousin, Quinn. They were now in the conference room with Spencer and Emily, waiting for Hotch to come in with Congresswoman Steyer.

When they finally came in, Steyer took a look at the prostitutes before immediately turning back to Hotch. "Just what point are you trying to make?"

"These women described similar experiences with the same man. We showed them police mug photos, and they didn't recognize him. We thought maybe you might know who he is," Hotch explained.

"Did you think you could shock me by treating me to this sideshow?" Steyer snipped.

"Sideshow?" Quinn repeated with disgust.

"Lady, enough of the men you work with treat themselves to us every day," another prostitute said.

"My apologies," Steyer said before quickly adding, "ladies."

"Could you please tell the congresswoman who it is we're looking for?" Emily asked.

"He's tall and bald, and he's got sad eyes," the blonde said.

"He's always wearing a turtleneck with this long, dark coat," Quinn added, "Looked like a mortician."

"That's right," the black prostitute agreed, "Hung around just watching for months before he finally got his nerve on, but then he just wanted to watch."

"Paid me and Racine 200 bucks to turn each other's knobs, but then he started screaming at us that we were low women," the blonde said.

"Same happened to me, and his voice got real high and nasally when he got excited," Quinn added.

"Does that sound like anyone that you know?" Hotch asked Steyer.

The woman gave him a long, hard stare. "No."

"I-I'm gonna read you a list of groups that lobbied on behalf of your legislation," Spencer told her, "Keeping in mind the description you just heard, tell me if anyone associated with these groups could be the man we're looking for. Uh, 'The Crime Policy Institute,' 'The Center for Safety,' 'Citizens' Brigade,' 'Decency Watch-'"

"Oh, my God," Steyer gasped.

"Decency Watch?" Emily repeated.

"The man who runs it."

"That would be Ronald Weems," Emi said, reading the file in Spencer's hands, "Do you know him?"

"No. I mean, yes, but he's a nobody," Steyer said.

"But he fits this description?" Emily pushed.

"Perfectly."

* * *

Emi sat at her desk, staring in the direction of the elevators and tapping her fingers impatiently. Being pregnant limited her movement, and Spencer had refused to let her go out onto the streets in fear that Ronald Weems might attack her. So now she was stuck at her desk, waiting impatiently for Spencer to call her.

"Emi." The woman whipped her head around to see JJ walking towards her, a smile on the blonde's face. "They caught him."

"Oh, thank God," Emi said, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Spencer also wanted to let you know that your cousin Quinn managed to mace the guy real bad before she let them arrest him," JJ added, causing Emi to laugh.

"Of course she did," Emi chuckled, shaking her head, "That girl is pretty aggressive when she wants to be."

"So, the juvenile authorities are letting Nathan Harris out. You wanna come with me to get him?" JJ offered.

"If you don't mind me tagging along."

* * *

After having reassured Nathan that he wasn't like Ronald Weems, Spencer was currently leaning back in his chair, playing with his wedding ring.

"Come on, Spence," Emi said, causing the man to look up at her. Behind her was Garcia.

"You, me, and Emi. We're hitting the town," Garcia said.

"No offense you guys," Spencer said, "but...I'm not really feeling like I'd make the best company right now."

"Oh no," Garcia said, shaking her head, "Up. Up. Up."

"Spencer, I say this as your pregnant wife and full of love: Don't make me hurt you," Emi threatened, crossing her arms.

Spencer couldn't help but smile at Emi's threat and relented, getting up from his chair.

"There you go," Garcia cheered encouragingly, "There you go."

* * *

Quinn and Nathan sat in an empty motel room, on the bed. Quinn looked at Nathan with concern when she noticed how stiff and nervous he seemed.

"Hey, just relax," Quinn said, as soothing as she could be, "Do you maybe wanna feel me?"

When she got no response from the boy, Quinn frowned and knelt down in front of him. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yes," Nathan said quickly, before changing his answer, "No. Maybe? I don't know. It's-It's not right."

"Do you maybe wanna talk about it?" Quinn suggested, "It would help me understand-"

"No! Stop!" Nathan shouted, "What would you-what would you understand? You're just a whore!"

Quinn made a face, not liking the words he just used. "Well if you would at least try to tell me," she insisted, "I'm only trying to help-"

"You have no idea what I could do to you!" Nathan shouted again, this time walking over to his bag.

Quinn tensed as she saw Nathan dig through his bag. She then let out a whimper when she saw him pull out a razor blade.

"Okay, hey. Just-just calm down," Quinn said, backing away from him, "You don't want to do this."

Nathan gave her a broken look full of despair. "I have to."

* * *

"Have you met Esther?" Garcia asked Emi and Spencer as they walked towards her car.

"Wow," Spencer said when he saw her car.

"You like?" Garcia said smugly, "Only 150,000 miles on her."

Before they could get into her car though, Spencer's phone began to ring.

"Hello?" Spencer answered, "Quinn?" He exchanged a confused look with Emi as he said that before his expression quickly changed to one of shock. "What? Oh, God. Uh, uh, stay-stay where you are. I'm calling an ambulance."

"I-I need you to drive, Garcia," Spencer said, running to the passenger seat, "And Emi-"

"Calling an ambulance," Emi finished, already dialing 911. "But what happened to Quinn?"

"I'll explain on the way."

* * *

Emi and Garcia followed Spencer up the stairs and into a motel room. In the corner stood a shaken up Quinn, but that wasn't where their attention was focused on. On, the motel bed laid Nathan, his arms all bloodied up. On the floor was a bloody razor blade.

"He just started slashing himself up," Quinn cried.

"Oh, dear Lord," Garcia gasped as Emi ran over to Nathan.

"Garcia, I need your scarf!" Emi shouted, grabbing Nathan's bloody arms, "Spencer hold Nathan's arms. I need to tie the scarf around as tight as I can. Somebody get another thing! Like a belt?!"

Garcia frantically gave Emi her scarf before running over to Quinn who held out a belt for her.

"Is it tight?!" Spencer questioned.

"As tight as I could possibly make it," Emi answered, "I would like to thank my parents for making be an EMT in high school...but where the hell are the medics?!

"They-they're coming," Quinn answered, "I can hear the sirens!"

"Don't," Nathan muttered from underneath the couple.

"I'm not gonna let you die," Spencer told him. "Where the hell are the medics!"

Just as he shouted that, the paramedics came running into the room; however, despite that, Spencer refused to let go.

"Sir."

"Spencer," Emi said gently, tugging on his shirt, "Spencer, you need to let go now. The medics are here."

Snapping out of his crazed state, Spencer looked around and reluctantly let go of Nathan's arms. He allowed Emi to pull him away and held her tight as they both could only watch the paramedics take care of Nathan.

* * *

They were all standing outside as the paramedics put Nathan into the ambulance. Morgan and Gideon had also arrived par Garcia's request. Morgan and Garcia were currently talking to each other whereas Spencer and Gideon were doing the same, leaving Emi to be with Quinn.

"Is this how your life is everyday?" Quinn asked Emi, staring at her cousin's bloody hands, "All of this blood and gore and...killers?"

"Yeah," Emi confirmed, her gaze on the blood-dyed towel in her hands.

"And it often takes you away from home, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then...is your offer still open?"

Emi looked up in surprise, taken aback by Quinn question. "I'm sorry?"

"Your offer," Quinn repeated, her eyes glancing at Spencer, who was making his way to them, "You know, the one where you hire me to help take care of the baby? I don't think I can live this kind of life anymore, so can I take you up on that offer?"

Emi glanced at Spencer, who nodded his head yes, before nodding her own head. "Yeah, I would like that very much."


	18. 2-12 - Profiler, Profiled

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 **ahowell1993, foxchick1, CrystalVixen93, and Momochan77: Thank you all so much for the reviews! Reading them really made me happy. I hope you guys enjoy this new chapter!**

* * *

"Quinn, we're leaving," Emi called out.

"Wait!" Emi turned around to see her cousin grab something off the kitchen counter and toss it to her. "You forgot your keys."

"Thanks," Emi said before following Spencer out the door, "Bye."

"Take care!"

After Emi closed the door to their apartment, Spencer leaned down to whisper to her. "You finally decided to trust her with our apartment?"

"If we can't trust her with our apartment, then there's no way I'm trusting her with our baby," Emi said, "I've given her a month to clean up her act, and the doctor said that this baby can come in the next three months. I need to be able to trust her now more than ever, so might as well start with taking care of our apartment. And this is why I got security cameras."

"Well, we're gonna miss the subway if we don't hurry now," Spencer pointed out, looking at his watch.

"Shit, seriously?!" Emi gasped, checking her phone, "Spence, let's go!"

* * *

"Nothing's happening," JJ complained.

"Shh! Watch!" Spencer shrieked excitedly.

Emi watched in amusement as Spencer, JJ, and Garcia stared at a black film canister with little bubbles fizzing at the bottom. In a flash second, the girls let out a yelp as the canister suddenly blasted into the air...and bounced off of Emily's head.

"Ooh! Ah, what-?"

"I'm so sorry, Emily," Spencer apologized as the other girls laughed.

"What was that?" Emily asked.

"Don't you recognize a rocket when you see one?" Garcia giggled, pointing at the rocket now by Emily's feet.

"I-I was merely demonstrating a physics law," Spencer explained, "I-I-I didn't mean for it to hit-"

"Oh, show me," Emily said, hurrying over.

"Uh, well, turn around, please," Spencer requested.

"Turn around?" Emily repeated in disbelief.

"Yeah, he's not gonna show you how it's done," JJ said, shaking her head.

"A magician doesn't reveal his secrets," Spencer said, making sure the girls were turned around.

"I thought you said it was physics," Emily pointed out.

"Physics...magic...what difference is there?" Emi asked with a shrug.

"It will not do you any good to argue with him," Garcia said.

"Hey, how come Emi doesn't need to turn around then," Emily protested.

"Don't you know that the sexy assistant is always apart of the act," Garcia joked.

"Oh, ha ha," Emi laughed sarcastically, watching as Spencer prepared his "magic trick."

"All right, all right, turn back and observe," Spencer said once he was done.

The girls turned back around, stared at the canister for a few seconds, and like last time, the canister blasted into the air...and landed in front of Hotch as he walked towards them.

Hotch picked up the canister and gave Spencer a blank stare. "Physics magic?"

"Yes, sir," Spencer said meekly.

"Reid, we talked about this," Hotch said sternly. He walked over to the group and handed Spencer his canister.

"I'm sorry, sir."

"Really starting to get some distance on those," Hotch commented nonchalantly before walking over, causing a smug beam to appear on Spencer's face.

"So, he _does_ have a sense of humor?" Emily asked in bewilderment.

"Only when there's a full moon," Emi said, "He also grows fur and howls at the moon."

"Your humor never ceases to amaze me," Emily said, causing Emi to stick out her tongue.

"Speaking of humor...where's Morgan?" Emily asked, looking around.

"In Chicago. He goes there every year for his mother's birthday," Spencer explained.

* * *

"Hey! Welcome back!" Quinn greeted cheerfully, "No case?"

"Not today, no," Emi said, shaking her head, "Today was a nice and peaceful day-a day we used to fill out piles and piles of paperwork."

"Sounds like hell," Quinn commented, "Well, I'll leave you and Spencer to your home, now. Bye."

"Bye bye," Emi said, "And thanks for watching our apartment."

"Not a problem."

As soon as the door closed behind Quinn, Emi quickly pulled her laptop out of her bag.

"Are you checking the security cameras," Spencer asked in amusement.

"Oh, but of course."

* * *

Emi and Spencer were sleeping soundly in their bed when they got a call.

"I swear if this is another case, I will be the criminal behind it," Emi groaned, blindly searching for the ringing phone.

Spencer managed to let a chuckle before groaning at how bright his phone was. "You've reached Doctor Spencer Reid...Oh, hey Hotch, another case?...Wait, what? Morgan's got arrested?!"

At those words, Emi sat up in bed and stared at Spencer with wide eyes.

"Yeah, Emi's also awake...Okay, we're on our way."

"Morgan's been arrested?!" Emi repeated as soon as Spencer ended the call, "For what?"

"Homicide," Spencer replied, grabbing some clean clothes, "Hotch said he'll explain on the jet."

* * *

As soon as the team reached the Chicago police station, they all rushed in and went straight to the front desk. Hotch pulled out a piece of paper to show the officer there as he spoke. "Special Agent Hotchner, FBI. I'm looking for Detective...Gordinski."

"I got this, Chuck." Everyone turned to see a man get up from him desk. He was bald and in a perfectly pressed suit. "How you guys doing? Wally Dennison, CPD."

"Where's Agent Morgan?" Hotch questioned.

"Detective Gordinski's in with the suspect now," Dennison answered.

"I need to see him," Hotch ordered.

"When my partner's finished talking to him," came Dennison's quick reply.

"I have your superintendent's personal cell number, and in the interest of not running roughshod over another police agency, I've resisted calling him so far," Hotch said, causing Dennison to glance at the rest of the team in discomfort, "I need to see Agent Morgan _now_."

At Hotch's stern look, Dennison finally caved in. "I'll get Gordinski," he said, "He's the, uh, primary."

"I don't like them calling him suspect," Gideon stated.

"Me neither," Hotch agreed.

* * *

As soon as Emi saw the primary, she knew that she didn't like him. The aura of arrogance that radiated from him was enough to make her put her off.

"Detective Gordinski, CPD."

Hotch didn't bother with the introductions and instead went straight to the point. "You think an FBI Agent, a BAU profiler committed a homicide?"

"Actually, three homicides at least," Gordinski corrected, "over 15 years."

Emi let out a scoff of disbelief. "Are you kidding me?" She shook her head. How ignorant and arrogant can this man get?

"You-you think he's a serial killer?" JJ stuttered in anger and shock.

"This is ridiculous," Spencer exclaimed.

"Has he been charged with anything?" Hotch questioned.

"I got 72 hours for that."

"I'd like to see him," Hotch requested.

Gordinski nodded, accepting Hotch's request. "Be my guest." He watched Dennison lead Hotch away, before turning his attention back to the rest of the team. "Agent Gideon, right?"

"Yes."

"I owe you a big thank you," the primary said, confusing Gideon, "I had no suspects at all until you looked over my case for me and sent me this profile." He walked over to his desk and grabbed a file before going back to hand it to Gideon. "Everything in it points to that son of a bitch, Derek Morgan."

At those words, Emi snapped. "Detective, please refrain from using any demeaning or insulting names to refer to Derek Morgan."

The detective gave Emi a look of distaste. "I'll call him whatever I want-"

"Do keep in mind that even if you have him in custody, Derek Morgan is still an agent for the FBI, and therefore is of higher rank than you. You will treat him with respect and in doing so address him by his title SSA Morgan or his name. You are treading in deep waters when you address to Derek Morgan with insults, so I suggest you be careful. Chicago does not need a detective who lets their personal bias control who they believe is the suspect, and if you find that you cannot help it, then I do believe a new detective is needed."

Gordinski could only stare at the woman in shock, rendered speechless by her reprimand.

"Point to the pregnant lady," Emily whispered, gently bumping shoulders with Emi.

"Spencer, your wife is amazing," JJ muttered to genius beside her.

Spencer beamed and gave Emi's hand a small squeeze. "I know," he muttered back to JJ.

Gideon shook his head, a small smirk on his face. It soon disappeared as he read threw the file the detective gave him. "I profiled him?"

"It's all there," the detective spat.

"Detective, a profile's just a guide," Spencer said.

"Yeah, this one guided me to him," Gordinski snapped.

"They're really more useful in the elimination of suspects rather than the inclusion," Emily tried to reason.

"That's not the way you presented it to me," the detective said stubbornly.

"Well, if I confused you, I'm sorry," Gideon apologized.

"I'm not confused at all," Gordinski denied.

Gideon sighed and leaned back against desk behind him. "Look, whatever it is in here that made you consider Agent Morgan a suspect has to be coincidence. You can't rely solely on this."

"You're right, I'm not," the man agreed. He walked over to his desk and picked up a picture. "15 years ago, I was a new detective. One of my first cases was a black kid. 12 or 13 years old, found strangled in a vacant lot near here."

"Boy was a John Doe, right?"

Gordinski nodded. "Still unidentified to this day."

"Wait, a 12-year-old kid that no one reported missing?" Emily asked.

Gordinski nodded again. "Ever. Four years go, another body turns up, same M.O. Worked that case just as hard, came up with just as much nothing. Nobody in the area had ever seen this kid before."

JJ's eyes narrowed at that statement. "No one's looking for these kids?"

The detective shook his head and turned his attention back to Gideon. "Then a few months back, I attended a seminar that you taught at CPD headquarters. I told you about my case, you said to send you the files and you'd look 'em over." He took the file out of Gideon's hands and flipped it open. "This is the profile you worked up:

"There are about 3 million people in Chicago. Your profile said I was looking for a black male, 25 to 35, with a knowledge of the area. Nonthreatening to children-either knows them or is normal enough that he doesn't scare them. A probable criminal record. It is also said, the way the body was placed gently on a mattress, not just tossed on the ground, indicated someone who was probably consumed with guilt, especially for the first victim. Your exact words are-'with a guilt-ridden offender, the BAU postulates the first victim is the most important, and the unsub may still visit the place of the crime or even the victim himself.' Care to guess who visits my first victim _every time_ he's in town?"

Emi couldn't help but physically wince at how convinced Gordinski was that Morgan was

"Can't be just visiting the victim," Gideon protested, "There has to be more than that."

"Sure. You said the unsub might try to inject himself into the investigation to keep tabs on it," Gordinski recalled, "Morgan has called our headquarters many times since he joined the Bureau. Always about this case."

"So, wait, he talked to you about it?" Spencer questioned.

"Headquarters," Gordinski clarified, "He'd never call me. After I got your profile, I checked airline records. Turns out Derek had just left Chicago when the other body turned up." He got up from his desk and led the group to a conference room where he had a bulletin board set up, holding anything related to the crime.

"Then yesterday another kid ends up dead, and the last person he was with was Derek Morgan. In the boy's pocket we found one of his FBI business cards, his cell number written on the back of it. In fact, every time Morgan's in town, he hangs out with kids."

"This is all just coincidence," JJ exclaimed in exasperation.

"A hell of a lot of coincidences."

"It's purely circumstantial," Emily said, gritting her teeth.

"So's a fingerprint." At this point, Emi threw her hands up in frustration and groaned. Spencer wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to stand in front of him, using his thumbs to gently massage her baby bump.

"Did I mention that Morgan found the body in 1991? Hidden way back in a vacant lot?" Gordinski added, "Now, don't you teach that when a body is hard to find, the person finding it is always a suspect?"

"1991? Detective, listen to yourself," Emi exclaimed, "If you do your math correctly, Derek Morgan would have only been around 15 years old! You clearly said that the profile stated the unsub to be around 25 to 35."

"Also says that age is the hardest to predict," Gordinski retorted, "and I should never exclude someone simply because of discrepancy with the age."

"What about the speculation that since he didn't manage to leave any evidence at the scene of the crime and he most likely has a criminal record or previous law enforcement?" Spencer shot, annoyance clearly laced in his tone, "Derek wasn't even in the Bureau yet when the first body was found."

"He may not have had a knowledge of law enforcement, but Derek Morgan definitely had a criminal record," Gordinski said stubbornly.

At those words, the team all shared shocked looks with each other.

* * *

"We're dealing with a desperate detective here," Gideon stated, jerking his head toward the man sitting at his desk, away from the team. "Three dead boys, no evidence at all, so he applies the profile directly to someone he already suspected." He shook his head in disappointment. "It's easy to get tunnel vision that way."

"One begins to twist facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts," Spencer quoted, "That's, uh, one of Sherlock Holmes's favorite quotes."

"We need to figure out who really killed these boys before they decide to charge Morgan," Gideon said.

"What do you want us to do?" Emily asked.

"Last victim was someone Morgan was seen with," Gideon recalled, "Conveniently, Morgan was already a suspect in the other two."

"Someone set him up?"

"We should consider Morgan a victim," Gideon said, "Prentiss, you and Reid talk to his family, learn about him-especially around the time of the first murder."

"Do we have the address?" Emily asked.

"I can take you." The team looked over to see Dennison walking over to them. Emi and Spencer shared looks of annoyance as Emily spoke.

"Oh, that's okay-"

"No. Actually, that's not a bad idea," Gideon interrupted, giving Emily a pointed look.

"Right," Emily agreed slowly, "Okey-dokey, lead the way, Detective." When the detective's back was turned, Emily sent Emi a look that was obviously a cry for help. Emi could only give the woman a sheepish smile and a shrug before Emily and Spencer reluctantly followed Dennison.

As they left, Hotch joined the now smaller group. "According to Morgan, he's got a bad history with Gordinski," he said quietly.

"He's got a bad history generally," Gideon said, nodding at Emi to give Hotch Morgan's juvenile records.

"Resisting arrest, vandalism, aggravated battery," Hotch read in disbelief, "This is Morgan?"

"As a juvenile," Gideon clarified, "Look at the dates."

"This isn't in his personnel file," Hotch muttered, "He said he told me everything relevant."

"Then he either lied or he doesn't consider this relevant," Gideon replied.

"Since when is the criminal history of a suspect not relevant?" Hotch retorted.

Emi instantly looked up and stared at Hotch in shocked. "You just called him a suspect," she pointed out.

Hotch didn't say anything in reply, but Emi could tell he was also shocked by what he said. He looked back down at Morgan's juvenile records before walking to where-Emi assumed-Morgan was.

Gideon watched Hotch walk away for a second before handing JJ Morgan's file. "You two get Garcia into Morgan's life."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

" _I feel terrible looking into his life like this,_ " Garcia said from Emi's phone.

"We know, just remember we're trying to help him," JJ told her.

"Let's just hope Morgan'll understand that," Emi muttered to which JJ reluctantly nodded in agreement.

" _Right, okay,_ " Garcia sighed, " _Graduated with honors from Northwestern Law. Did you know he was a star football player?_ "

"I knew he was a jock," Emi said, smirking a tiny bit.

"Surprisingly, I don't know much about him at all," JJ admitted.

" _Quarterback. That's the guy who throws the ball, right?_ " Garcia asked.

"I don't know sports," Emi said with a shrug.

"Yes," JJ answered, rolling her eyes with a smile at Emi's reply.

" _Ha! That's what he was!_ " Some more keyboard clacking could be heard from Garcia's side. " _Full ride athletic scholarship. Sophomore year, he severely injured his left knee, and he never played again._ "

"Okay, Garcia, look further back, okay? Before college," JJ instructed.

" _Right, right-right-right. Okay, um...wait. He was mentioned in the Chicago Register as...He found the body of a ch-child in a vacant lot in 1991._ "

JJ sighed. "That's our first victim," she informed Garcia.

"They think _Derek_ 's the one who murdered the child," Emi added solemnly.

" _He never told me about this,_ " Garcia whimpered.

"He never told any of us," JJ said, shaking her head.

"Okay, now our next request might be, um, far-fetched," Emi said, looking around to make sure that no one could hear them. She spotted a man walking towards them, and motioned for JJ to follow her. They moved to a corner of the room where there weren't any officers or people before speaking to Garcia. "Is there any criminal history?"

" _Criminal_?!" Garcia repeated.

"Yes," JJ nodded, "Criminal."

" _JJ, Emi, there's not gonna be a-_ " Garcia suddenly stopped talking and the two girls could hear a quiet beeping noise coming from Garcia's side. " _There's a sealed file_."

"Unseal it," JJ ordered.

" _But it's a sealed file!_ " Garcia protested.

"Garcia, please," Emi begged, "Remember, we're helping him."

" _Ah! Right! Helping him, helping him...That's a juvenile criminal record. It was expunged and sealed by a Judge Esposito after presentation of a letter and testimonial from a local youth center director. 'Finest young man I've ever know, criminal record could jeopardize potential scholarship offers...stake my personal and professional reputation...' He was definitely a fan of our boy._ "

"Do we have a name?"

" _Hang on second._ "

"I'm Carl Buford." Emi and JJ both turned around to see a black male walk in accompanied by a black female. "I've brought Damien Walters' mother to see Detective Gordinski," the man said to an officer.

"Hi, Carl," the detective said, walking over to the man.

"Stan."

" _Buford_." Emi did a double take upon hearing Garcia's answer, and both she and JJ turned back to look at the man.

"Did you just say Buford?"

* * *

Emi and JJ were still watching Buford when Gideon and Hotch approached them. "Find anything about Morgan?"

JJ sighed. "The record wasn't picked up in his background check because everything in it was expunged and the file sealed by a judge," she informed them.

"Forgiving judge," Gideon muttered.

"It was based on the recommendation of an upstanding member of the community who took personal responsibility for Morgan," JJ added.

"Well, that sounds like somebody we should talk to for more background," Hotch said.

"Shouldn't be too hard," Emi said, nodding her head towards Buford, who was a few desks away, "He's right over there."

* * *

"You folks work with Derek Morgan?" Buford asked.

"Yes, sir, closely," Hotch confirmed.

"You knew him well as a teenager?" Gideon asked.

Buford nodded proudly. "One of the finest boys I ever coached. Football. I run a youth center."

"I gather you were instrumental in helping to get his criminal records expunged," Gideon said.

"I feel terrible about that now."

JJ crossed her arms. "You do?"

"Well, in view of what's happened."

"What's happened is a mistake," Gideon said.

Buford furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm confused, I thought Stan said there was all kinds of evidence."

"There is," Gordinski cut in, giving the team of profilers a look, "Thanks, Carl, you can take Miss Walters home now. Appreciate you bringing her in."

"Of course, of course." Buford shook Gordinski's hand before looking back at the profilers. "Derek Morgan. It's still hard for me to believe."

"For them, too." At Gordinski's words, Emi glared hard at the detective. "I can understand that."

"Derek had a way of charming people into looking past his deficiencies," Buford said.

"Excuse em, deficiencies?" JJ asked, exchanging looks of disbelief with Emi.

"Well, you've seen the records."

"Derek was at the youth center yesterday, wasn't he?" Hotch asked.

"Playing football with Damien Walters and some other boys," Buford confirmed.

"Carl's the one that saw 'em leaving together," Gordinski informed them.

Emi narrowed her eyes. "Did he now?" she muttered quietly to herself.

"Did you talk to him?" Hotch questioned.

"I was working inside. By the time I was done, they were leaving," Buford told him.

"And when was the last time you _did_ talk to him?" Hotch inquired.

"I don't know," Buford answered with a shrug, "Years."

"Odd," Emi muttered, which didn't go unnoticed by Hotch. When Carl turned to talk to Gordinski, Hotch motioned for Emi to follow him and off they went to see Morgan.

* * *

"Carl Buford," Hotch said as soon as they entered the interrogation room Morgan was in.

Morgan was silent for a moment, and though it was quick, Emi noticed that Morgan tensed at the mention of the man's name. "What?"

"Carl Buford, he runs the youth center," Hotch said.

"What's that got to do with anything," Morgan said with a nonchalant shrug.

"He's responsible for getting your records expunged," Hotch stated.

Morgan slammed his fist on the table and got out of his seat. "I told you to stay the hell out of my business."

"You said you visit the youth center every time you visit."

"So what?"

"The man basically made your career possible," Emi said, causing Morgan to turn around and face her, "Don't you find it strange that you visit the place he runs every single time you visit, yet he claims that you haven't talked in years?"

"Damn you both!" Morgan shouted, swiping his "box of records" off the table, "It is none of your damn business."

"Buford's the one who told the detectives you were with Damien," Hotch told him.

"I am warning you, Hotch," Morgan said, shaking his head, "Back off."

Seeing that he wasn't going to get anything out of Morgan, Hotch turned to leave. He noticed that Emi made no indication of leaving, but decided to let her be. The last thing Hotch saw before leaving the room was Emi and Morgan staring each other down.

* * *

"What do you want, Emi," Morgan sighed as soon as Hotch closed the door. "If Hotch can't get anything out of me, then you sure as hell can't."

"On the contrary," Emi snapped, "You may find that I know more than Hotch. Also let me remind you, that I am 7 months pregnant and have a bad temper, so I suggest you sit your ass down." Emi gave Morgan a stern glare until he finally made his way back to the chair. "So Carl Buford-"

"Emi, don't," Morgan said in a warning tone.

The woman crossed her arms. "Oh, I will," Emi said, "As soon as his name is mentioned, you tense up and let your temper get the best of you. Now, you may argue that you are currently a suspect of a serial murder and that we're going through your personal background, so of course you're going to lose your temper. So, sure, let's go with that, but there's still the fact that you still tensed up at the mention of his name.

"Let's face it, if it wasn't for him, you probably would've never became a member of the BAU, and from what I've heard, the man was basically your surrogate father. So why haven't you spoken to him in a long time-why did you tense at his name."

"You wouldn't understand," Morgan said through gritted teeth.

Emi shot him a look. "Oh, yeah? Let me guess. The man managed get your juvenile criminal record expunged and took you under his wing. You now have a path to a wonderful and brilliant future that you never would've gotten if it weren't for him, so basically, you owe everything to him. And you have this idea that you're in his debt, so you listen and do whatever he tells you to-just to make him happy. And it's all fun and fine, until suddenly he touches you, and you feel uncomfortable. And it keeps happening, and it keeps getting worse and worse, and there's nothing you could do about it. You were young, you never knew that what he did was wrong. All you knew, was that because of everything he did for you, you felt obligated to allow him to continue to do whatever he was doing to you-no matter how much pain, or disgust, or sick you felt. You owed him, so all you could do was stay there and be a good little boy.

"Derek Morgan, you may think that no one on our team may understand how you felt, but you're wrong." Morgan's eyes widened when he saw the recognized the pain and sadness in Emi's eyes. "I know _exactly_ how you feel...and not in the good way."

"Emi..."

"I'm assuming there're other victims?" Emi said, interrupting Morgan before he could say anything else, "With the entire area practically worshiping him, I'm sure Buford never even thought about stopping."

"You're right," Morgan agreed, solemnly.

"I can buy you 3 minutes at the most to get out of here," Emi said, walking over to the door to check if the hallway's clear of any officers. "Gordinski's set on you being the killer, so you'll be seen as a threat. I know that our team will do our best to find you first, but there's guarantee."

"Thanks, Emi," Morgan said, "And about what you said-"

"If no one suspects anything about that, then I won't mention it," Emi said, "But if I see any signs at all, then I'm sorry but I have to."

"I understand."

"Good luck," Emi said, giving Morgan a wry smile, "And don't get caught too soon."

* * *

"I'm not saying it's Mr. Buford," Emi overheard Gideon say to Detective Gordinski, "There's a huge amount of investigation left to be done."

"For 15 years he hasn't been the slightest bit suspicious," Gordinski argued.

"Morgan won't even talk about Buford," Emi said. Technically, it was true. She was the one that talked about Carl Buford.

"He won't? Buford should be that kid's hero," Gordinski said, a little shocked.

"Something happened," Hotch realized, making Emi silently apologize to Morgan.

"You talking about Carl Buford?" Emily asked from behind them.

"Yes."

"We just left his office," Emily said, referring to Dennison who had just left to check on Morgan.

"Hey!" As if on cue, Dennison came storming over to the group. "What, did we turn him loose?"

While Gordinski went to follow Dennison to check the interrogation room, Hotch and Gideon turned to Emi who gave them an "innocent" shrug. When Gordinski came back, he was fuming.

"You let him escape?!"

* * *

"They're beyond reason," JJ sighed, as she walked back to the group, "We have to find him first."

"Any ideas?" Gideon asked.

"You know, his mother said that Buford practically raised him after his father died. He mentored him, took him on trips, spent all of his time with him. Basically became a surrogate father."

"You said he took him on trips?" Emi repeated, feeling herself pale.

Spencer looked at his wife. "Emi, do you know something?"

Emi hesitated before admitted, "I think I may or may not know what he's afraid of us finding."

Hotch stared at her for a second before realizing what she was talking about. "Detective, we may know where he's hiding," he called out.

* * *

Hotch was right when he said that Morgan would be at the youth center, confronting Buford. The detectives heard everything when Morgan confronted and shouted at Buford for the things the man did to Morgan and many other innocent kids. It was how the detectives knew that Morgan was in fact innocent, and that Buford was indeed the killer.

As soon as the detectives arrested Buford and took him out of the youth center, Emi entered into the room to comfort Morgan, who instantly leaned down to hide his face in the girl's shoulder.

"It's okay, Derek," Emi whispered, rubbing his back in a comforting matter, "You did it. You finally put that bastard in the hell hole he belongs in. He can't hurt you or anybody else anymore. It's okay."

* * *

 **A/N: Next up is episode 14! The Big Game.**


	19. 2-14 - The Big Game

**A/N: I am so sorry for going on such a long hiatus guys (almost a year oof!). Junior year and senior year have been rough, and senioritis isn't really helping oops. I apologize that this chapter is short, and might not be as good as the older ones, but I'm working hard and doing my best to work on the next chapter. Thanks again, you guys. Y'all are amazing!**

* * *

"Ask me any-any question," Spencer requested to the couple sitting with him and Emi. The bar they were at was crowded that night because of the last football game of the NFL season. Hotch and his wife, Haley were dancing together, Emily was entertained at how Garcia was intensely watching Morgan dance with a group of girls, and JJ was playing darts with some guys. Spencer and Emi were currently sitting with a random couple that they met and were playing a Star Trek trivia drinking game.

" _Return to Tomorrow_ ," the man said as JJ walked past them. She ruffled Spencer's hair fondly and sent Emi a wave.

" _Return to Tomorrow_ , season 2, production number 51," Spencer began, "An alien entity, Sargon, takes over Kirk's body while 2 others take over Spock and Dr. Mulhall's."

"Alien races appearing?"

"Trick question. A race is never identified-Sargon is a disembodied mind," Spencer answered.

"And the Dr. McCoy quote?"

Emi exchanged grins with the couple as Spencer furrowed his eyebrows, searching his memories for the quote.

"5…" the woman said, beginning to count down, "4...3...2…"

Before the woman could say "1," Spencer quickly opened his mouth to recite the quote. "' _I will not peddle flesh. I'm a physician_ '-Drink!"

Emi laughed at the couple's groan. "As entertaining as it is watching you guys spout Star Trek stuff that I don't understand, I think the baby's getting a bit annoyed with the loud music, so I'm gonna go step outside for a bit."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Spencer asked, a look of concern now on his face.

"No, it's fine. Continue on with your trivia game," Emi said, "I think I saw JJ go outside, so I'll just join her."

When Emi exited the crowded bar, she noticed that JJ was on the phone, a serious expression on her face.

"Thank you." When JJ finished the call, she turned around to face Emi, who grimaced.

"Another case?"

JJ sighed dejectedly. "Yeah."

"You call Gideon, I'll go rally up the others," Emi offered.

"Thanks."

* * *

"You know, it never fails. Just as I'm getting my groove thing going, bam, we're back at the BAU," Morgan complained, pouring himself some coffee. Everyone was-reluctantly-back at the BAU in the conference room, waiting for Gideon to arrive so they could get started with the case.

"You know, statistically a case doesn't come in with any more frequency if you're at a party or a gathering than if you aren't. It's a trick of the mind, we merely remember the ones that came in that way more," Spencer stated, provoking giggles from Emily and Garcia.

"Derek's just being dramatic, Spence," Emi said, staring at Derek's coffee longingly. About 3 months into her pregnancy, Spencer banned Emi from drinking coffee. It has now been 5 months without coffee, and her desire for it only grew more.

"Besides, is it really that hard for you to get your groove ' _thang_ ' going again?" Emily asked Morgan teasingly.

"Only when he's sleeping," Gideon said, finally joining the group.

"Where were you tonight?" Hotch asked.

"I told you, I went to the Smithsonian."

"You missed a good time," Emily said.

"I had a good time," Gideon retorted.

"Well, that's definitely over," JJ sighed, walking into the room, "Georgia. The Kyles-Dennis and Lacy-were murdered an hour ago in their suburban Atlanta home."

"An hour ago?" Hotch repeated in surprise.

"Police were on scene unusually fast," JJ said.

"Why?"

"One of the unsubs called them and told them that the other was about to murder the victims," JJ explained.

"You're kidding," Morgan said.

"From inside the house," the blonde added, "According to the dispatcher, the first male sounded terrified and begged them to get there because the other, who they both identified as Raphael, was about to kill the sinners that lived there."

"Sinners?"

JJ nodded in confirmation. "The 911 center is gonna send Garcia a copy of the tape."

"How fast was the police response time?" Spencer asked.

"4 minutes, 26 seconds," JJ informed him, "During which time...Raphael managed to do this."

Emi's eyes widened at the crime scene photos that appeared on the screen.

"In 4 1/2 minutes?" Emily said, making a face at the pictures.

"Mr. Kyle is a dot com millionaire. His company is one of the largest employers in the community. There's gonna be media coverage," JJ continued, "Also, when they arrived, the police found this displayed prominently on the bed."

A picture of a page now appeared on the screen. Emi tilted her head when she saw that a paragraph had been viciously highlighted in yellow.

" _Revelations_ Chapter 6, Verse 8," Hotch read.

"They're killing sinners," Morgan pointed out, "These guys are on a mission."

"And mission-based killers will not stop killing," Spencer added.

"' _And I looked in behold a pale horse, and his name that sat upon him was death_ ,'" Hotch read from the page.

" _'And hell followed with him,_ '" Gideon finished.

"Alright, Emi, you stay behind with Garcia," Hotch ordered, getting up from his seat, "You are of better use here where you and your baby will be safe."

Emi nodded in understanding, "Yes, sir."

"Wheels up in 30."

* * *

"Alrighty cinnamon roll, let's get ready to rumble." Emi watched in amusement as Garcia rolled around her office, "You all nice and comfy in that chair of yours?"

"Yep."

"Okey dokey, then let's-" Garcia stopped talking when something popped onto one of her screens.

Emi's eyes scanned over the content briefly. "Is that the-?"

"911 call sent from Georgia State Police?" Garcia finished, "Yes it is."

"We should probably call the team, then," Emi said.

"Agreed and done," Garcia said just as a video call window with the team popped up.

"Pets, I just got the 911 call from the Georgia State Police," Garcia informed the team before playing it.

 _"911, what's your emergency?"_

 _"I'm at 1527 Chestnut Drive."_

 _"I know where you're calling from, sir. What's your emergency?_

 _"He thinks they're too greedy. They have too much."_

 _"Too much what?"_

 _"Stuff. Possessions. Hurry!"_

 _"You're calling because these people have too much stuff, sir?"_

 _"No, I'm calling because Raphael-"_

 _"That's enough."_

 _"I don't want to."_

 _"He's calling because Raphael is going to kill the sinners that live here."_

 _"I'm sorry, did you say somebody is killing someone?"_

"And that's it," Emi said as the recording finished, "The unsubs hang up after that."

"Well, Unsub One definitely sounds frightened," Emily pointed out, "Maybe he's doing this against his will."

Gideon shook his head, "I doubt it...he whispered."

"He could have called out to save them instead of calling 911," Hotch agreed.

"Not if he had a gun to his head," Morgan countered.

"But then why would he have called 911?" Emi retorted.

"The second unsub said Raphael was gonna kill someone," JJ remembered, "Is there a third?"

"Referring to oneself in third person is not uncommon for an unsub," Spencer stated, "Ted Bundy gave thoroughly detailed accounts of his murders, but he never actually admitted to doing it. He would just say, 'the killer.'"

"Okay, so I'm gonna go ahead and run the name 'Raphael' through the Georgia criminal databases as well as our own," Garcia told them.

"Thanks, Garcia," Hotch said.

"Ever so welcome, my liege," Garica replied.

Emi lifted a hand and gave them a small wave. "Bye-bye," she said before Garcia ended the call.

* * *

"Find anything yet?" Emi asked.

"Nothing," Garcia responded sadly, "Nothing in the Georgia database, and nothing in ours."

"Maybe that's not his real name," Emi muttered, "That could just an alias to cover up his real name..." Emi trailed off when she noticed that she had gotten an email from a friend. Curious about why they would email her, Emi opened it and clicked on the link in the context. The link sent her to a video, and as Emi watched it, her eyes grew wide in horror.

"Garcia!" she called out, quickly forwarding the email to the blonde, "Try and see if you can find the source of this video."

Leaving Garcia to see why Emi was freaking out, Emi pulled out her phone and called Spencer.

" _Hello?_ "

"Spencer, put me on speaker. Also, are you at the crime scene?"

" _Yes._ "

"Is there a, uh, burgundy settee against the wall? Underneath a picture of flowers and other objects?"

" _Um, yes?_ "

Emi let out a shaky breath. "That's what I was afraid of."

" _Why? Emi, what's wrong?_ "

"Um, so Carol emailed me a viral video."

" _A viral what?_ "

"Those videos that someone posted online that someone thinks is novel in some way, and so they send it to everyone on their email lists, and so on, and so on," Garcia explained as she watched the video, "This one seems to be pretty popular, judging by the string of names on the forward."

" _Garcia, is there a point to all this?_ " they heard Morgan ask.

"Um, I think this video is of the crime scene," Emi explained, "of the actual crime, to be exact, and to be even more specific, Mr. Kyle being murdered."

" _Emi and Garcia, there's a video of this murder posted on the internet?_ " Morgan questioned.

"Yeah."

"Shot from directly across the room from the..." Garcia paused for a second, staring at the video that was still playing, "...little couch."

* * *

"You're on the phone with Emi and Garcia," Emi said after she answered a call from Spencer.

"Oh, come on, Emi. You can do better than that," Garcia said, "Give me something more juicy."

"Sorry, Garcia, but those talks are saved for the bedroom," Emi replied with a wink. "Anyway, what do you need Spence?"

" _Is it possible to control a laptop remotely?_ " her husband asked.

"Yeah, you totally access someone's computer remotely," Garcia answered, "It's actually done a lot today. When a mortal calls for tech support, instead of like giving you instructions, the tech can work on your computer from wherever she is."

" _And they maintain the access even after the work is done?_ " Hotch asked.

"They're not supposed to, but I suppose you could install a Trojan horse during a service."

" _Something left in the computer to be turned on later. It's the same way that web sites get pop-up ads onto your computer,_ " the two woman heard Spencer explain from the other side.

" _Garcia, can you check the Kyles' phone records and see if they called for tech support in the last 6 months?_ " Hotch requested.

"Right-O. Oh, and if you get me the Kyles' laptop, I can search the drive for anything implanted there."

" _Fast as we can._ "

"By the way," Emi called out before anyone could hang up, "This video is super viral, now."

" _What does that mean?_ " Gideon asked.

"That means, it's the most downloaded video on the entire internet, worldwide," Garcia explained solemnly, "And judging by the responses embedded in the files, people seem to think it's pretty cool."

" _Call us if you find anything on the Kyles' computer,_ " Hotch sighed.

"Yeah."

* * *

A notification from one of Garcia's many computers caught the attention of both women in the office. Seeing that it was another chain mail, they exchanged worried looks before Garcia opened the email and clicked on the link.

"Oh, not another one..."

* * *

"I think I'm going to be sick," Emi mumbled. The newest video kept replaying in her head. The unsub had suspended his victim with rope while he stood in front of her, reciting her sins. The sound of dogs barking could be heard from the background, and once the unsub stopped speaking, he released the dogs on the victim, allowing them to tear her apart. Emi had ended up throwing up after watching that, and Garcia was not in the best state either.

"I can't believe people," the computer genius muttered, "How can they find entertainment out of this?"

Emi was about to respond when her phone went off.

"Hey, JJ," Emi said weakly, "What's-"

" _I'm so sorry, Emi._ " JJ's voice sounded frantic, causing Emi to frown in worry.

"JJ, what's wrong?"

" _We need you and Garcia to come down here,_ " JJ said with shaky breaths, " _Hotch is on his way to get you two._ "

"Why do we need to go down?"

" _Spencer's missing_." At those words, Emi felt a chill go down her spine. " _We think the unsub took him_."


End file.
